#I'm in love with my car is so ironically canon

[giolovesyousm]

these made me so happy.

[verysium]

blu lock top artists on Spotify??? i need your thoughts on it

anon you had me pulling up my spotify playlists and browsing through the entirety of genius.com for three hours straight. i'm going to tweak this prompt a little bit and include specific songs that best represent them since it's easier for me to explain that way.

RIN

the fanon answer for this is chase atlantic. while their songs do encapsulate parts of his personality (mostly the edgy teenager and disillusioned youth persona), i feel like this choice does not do his full character justice.

the canon answer for this is king gnu, more specifically the song "prayer x." i can picture this since rin seems like the type to enjoy alternative rock/indie, but the fact that it's the ending theme to banana fish is what gets to me. like...do you see yourself in ash or something? i hope you don't cus it doesn't end well. that anime had me bawling my eyes out for months, and i still can't think about it without breaking down again.

furthermore, the lyrics and music video to this song are very cryptic and borderline nihilistic. for example, "hiding behind this nonchalant smile" and "my life's spark will wink out of existence." i feel like this speaks volumes about rin's mental health and internal thought process. he obviously does not process his emotions normally and instead represses them. he also struggles with the idea of finding a purpose in what is otherwise a cyclical routine with no end. he's worried and, quite frankly, afraid that if he ever stops pursuing his dream, everything will come crumbling down, and he will have to face all the demons he's avoided for so long. the main theme here is that he cannot face his reality (the fact that sae's dream is not his own.) so he does everything in order to escape this fact even if it ultimately destroys him.

from my own playlists, i'd assign him the following songs/artists:

"beautiful boy" by john lennon

this is a love letter to baby rin. i feel like he would've enjoyed this song as either a lullaby or something he listened to on car rides to the beach during summer vacations. he probably still listens to this when it's raining outside or he's had a bad day. reminds him of his childhood and the good parts of it.

"the love club" by lorde

this is something pre-teen rin listened to. the irony is spot-on, and i feel like the lyrics would be relevant during a time when he was going through his rebellious phase and fully fleshing out his place in society. in this instance, the club would metaphorically be wherever his brother is at, whether that's the guys sae meets in spain or the group of football players considered "top-notch" in japan. everything is about finding a place in this club/clique in an effort to become free and differentiate himself from others. the only problem is that rin ironically loses his freedom because he tries so hard to be among the best. he signs his life away in pursuit of a dream, and it's something that now defines him.

"the only problem i got with the club / is how you're severed from the people / who watched you grow up"

this lyric in particular could apply to either one of the itoshi brothers. it's one of the caveats that comes with fame. you gain everything, but you lose everything before that. both of the itoshis likely experienced some amount of separation from their loved ones, including each other. also lorde's vocals are beautiful as always, so there's no reason not to include this song.

"howlin' 404" by DEAN

the production for this song is on point. the intro has a segment from a 1930s american horror radio program which is fitting because rin canonically watches horror movies. i think this song is something rin might listen to during cold autumns or midnights when he just can't sleep.

lyrically, there is the motif of a time loop which is also present in "prayer x." rin's character itself just has this connection with the raw grittiness of existentialism and this idea of repeating days without purpose. (in fact, he would make a great psychological thriller lead.) rin is also a control freak. if he lets one loose end go, it will unravel the entire thing. that matches up with the idea of "killing me softly." rin would rather prolong his pain than have it ripped from him all at once and leave him with nothing. i find this in a lot of people in real life too. even if your trauma wasn't good for you, it sometimes becomes the only thing you truly own. it's like that one quote from bojack horseman. "if i don't, that means that all the damage i got isn't good damage, it's just damage." rin feels like he has something to prove, and if he fails, all his suffering would've been for nothing.

"moonchild" by RM

i may be a bit biased since i love the mono mixtape, and i've written a rin fic about celestial bodies, but....this song just fits him. there's also a remarkable similarity with the lyrics of the previous songs i've listed. i'm just going to list a few:

"smiling in endless pain / you know / there's no freedom when you say freedom out loud"

one thing i love about RM is that he doesn't shy away from character flaws. he writes songs specifically for those who are always picked last, who aren't remarkable in any way, who feel weighed down by their normality. he gives them their spotlight and due diligence. for example, the entirety of the chorus is a repeat of "moonchild, you shine." i find this interesting since it's usually the sun that shines. but the sun is already sae, and rin is relegated to being the moon. yet even though the moon doesn't have its own light (it merely reflects the sun), it still shines bright in the darkness. rin doesn't know it yet, but he himself is a big role model for others such as isagi, his fans, and people just like him. so yeah....i'd take this song as a message of hope for future rin.

SAE

the fanon answer is lana del rey, and i would agree to a certain extent. under the right circumstances, he could become one of those dreamy, emotionally stunted, and tired men you guys all lust over. if y/n ever wrote a romantic song about him, it would be either "west coast" (for the spanish influences) or "art deco" (for the vibes.)

the headcanon answer is nothing. i don't think he listens to music much. even if he did, it would be probably classical/instrumental or just white noise for his long flights. i imagine him listening to erik satie's "gymnopédie no. 3" on a train ride or something.

from my own playlists, i'm going to give him these songs/artists:

"remind me" by röyksopp

i don't know how to explain this, but this song gives a bittersweet sense of nostalgia. think early 2000s when the TV footage was still grainy and had retro graphics. you're carrying around your mini mp3 player whilst wandering through the airport and wondering how the hell you even ended up there. that's the general ambience of this song.

lyrically, the song also matches well with sae. i'm going to give you a few examples:

"it's only been a week / the rush of being home in rapid fading"

again, this is a tribute to the disconnection sae feels from his home. he goes everywhere, but he belongs nowhere. when he finally returns to japan, he finds himself missing spain. when he's in madrid, he thinks about the ocean back in kamakura. there never is a place that truly fills that gaping hole in his chest. i also feel like sae experiences FOMO on a whole other level. he constantly feels like something is wrong/missing and he's not doing enough.

"brave men tell the truth / the wise man's tools are analogies and puzzles"

the idea here is that though sae is blunt with his words, he is a coward with his intentions/true feelings. he can brutally call out someone without hesitation, but to actually reveal his own truths and motives? he'd rather shrivel up in a hole and die. this is especially applicable to love. to him, a wise man is someone who doesn't open his heart up easily. instead, he hints at his feelings, and whether or not you can figure that out is on you. sae hates it when others play games with him. it's where his hypocrisy lies. he demands straightforward honesty from others, but he himself will unintentionally play games with you if it means he can hide himself behind his walls.

"a woman holds her tongue / knowing silence will speak for her"

this is the closest you guys are ever going to get to sae itoshi's ideal type. he loves people who don't need to say something for him to believe it. they just get it. your silence is automatically enough for him to know that you love him. similarly, you don't even need to speak a word to understand what he's feeling.

"night shift" by lucy dacus

this song is sae if he was that one ex-boyfriend who really fucked you up emotionally, and you never got over him even though you said you did. now that i think about it, the story could be told from either POV. this could be sae trying to erase you from his mind, or it could also be you post-breakup.

"you've got a 9 to 5 / so i'll take the night shift / and i'll never see you again / if i can help it"

i know this one lyric caused controversy all over tiktok, so i'm going to add my own interpretation. at face value, this is exactly what it says it is. sae doesn't want to see you again, nor do you. he's willing to go out of his way just to avoid you, and truthfully he would. when sae finds himself in trouble, he doesn't look for something new to fix him. instead, he cuts everything off and subtracts anything that is deadweight. if you're out of his life, then you're out of his life. he's not coming back for you (or at least that's what he says to convince himself). same thing with rin. he knows he hurt rin, but he's not going to go back and try to make it right. he's going to move on and try to justify his actions every step of the way. one day, rin will move on too, and then sae would have been right all along. (unfortunately, that is not the way things work, but that's a lesson for another time.)

the alternative interpretation is that y/n is the other woman. this could be literal as in sae already has someone else in his life, and he only sees you at night. you're only ever going to be the night shift. it could also be metaphorical as in you're merely a distraction in the grand scheme of things. you're the mistress, but football is his wife if that makes sense. his career will always take precedence.

"you get me so high" by the neighborhood

this song is all the words sae wished he said to rin but never did. it made me cry because everything would have been so different if they had just set aside their pride and truthfully sought each other out.

"hope you don't regret it / i pushed a lot back but i can't forget it"

repressing feelings seems to be a recurring issue with the itoshi brothers. like....maybe if i just push it out of sight, it will also go out of mind. and at its core, this all stems from fear. fear of facing the consequences, the hypotheticals, the terrifying realization that you did something you regret and there really is no turning back from it. but realistically, if you think about it, a lot of this is the byproduct of overthinking. sometimes the situation isn't as complicated as we might make it out to be. sometimes an apology doesn't fix everything, but it's a proposition to be something more, an attempt at a solution. but sae and rin are so blindsided by their own internal turmoil that they cannot see this.

"for a long time i took it all for granted / i really thought we had it / but at the time it was more than i could manage"

ah....the "taking for granted" part. i could ramble on about that for hours. i think it really is some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that we never miss something until it's gone. and in a way, it's not something that we can always control. the value you assign to a person/object when you have it is going to be fundamentally different from the value you assign to it when it's no longer in your grasp. that's how scarcity works. something with a limited supply is always going to be worth more. the vice versa works as well. you might yearn after something but then throw it away the moment you finally have it and grow tired of it. this sort of dilemma that comes with appreciation is so common i really wouldn't blame the itoshi brothers for what they did. it is immensely difficult to know when you're going to lose something or when you need to let it go. and sometimes it's hard to be constantly grateful for what you have because many of us are wired to want something more. tbh that's what makes the itoshis relatable.

"if we can leave it all behind us / and meet in between"

now sae would never say this unless he himself had actually reflected on what happened and fully processed it. but maybe in the future, they could set aside their differences and reach out to each other. (this is how i cope)

"but i just had to let you know / i never meant to hurt you, though / i had all my motives / i didn't know they wouldn't mix with your emotions / i just had to reach my goals / never knew i'd meet you though"

that's the thing with personal ambition. sometimes you get so caught up in yourself, you forget all about others. and this isn't really selfishness, or at least intentional selfishness. it just sort of happened that way. you never meant to hurt them, but you still somehow did.

"we should stick together / you're my best friend / i'll love you forever"

yeah....this line was the one that did it for me. something about the dysfunctional sibling dynamic just eats away at my insides. like....i could've loved you, we could've been so much together, but why aren't we? what we have isn't hate, but it isn't the love i know and crave either.

"we could be the greatest / it doesn't matter if we're never rich or famous"

ok but if rin ever heard this leave sae's lips, i think all of his trauma would just be magically healed. he just wants his brother to see him. like fully see him and love him. but alas, what is blue lock without angst, am i right?

"love in the dark" by adele

now i don't think sae would ever listen to adele, but the lyrics are just too fitting. i was going to write a fic on this, but it's going to have to ferment a bit in the drafts for now. basically this is the entire rin/sae traumatic scene but as a melodramatic torch song with adele's heavenly vocals.

"take your eyes off of me so i can leave / i'm far too ashamed to do it with you watching me"

um...this is literally sae's internal monologue??? i feel like letting go of things is something both the itoshi brothers struggle with. their lives are constantly pulling them in different directions, and eventually they become numb to it all. they don't form any strong attachment to anything besides football because that's the one thing that won't change for them. in a way, this is necessary for their character development (in the sense that they need to discern for themselves what to keep and what to let go), but it also destroys any sense of belonging they might have (hence why they feel lonely.)

"don't try to change my mind / i'm being cruel to be kind"

sae would definitely say this. like word for word. if only he wasn't a vague dumbass with no communication skills.

"i can't love you in the dark / it feels like we're oceans apart"

this is literally their dynamic in one lyric. there is the physical distance, and then there's the emotional distance.

"we're not the only ones, / i don't regret a thing / every word i've said, / you know i'll always mean"

this sort of reminds me when sae said that the world is huge, and there's so many players way better than him out there. i think spain really gave him a reality check, and he grew angry at rin when rin couldn't understand his disillusionment.

"everything changed me / and i don't think you can save me"

adele sort of echoes this softly at the end of the song. i feel like sae would do that too. he wouldn't admit his own insecurities until the very end, and only then does the truth come out.

"i'll sleep when i'm older" by bruno major

this is sae when he's older and fully mature, preferably after he meets you. he finally decides to damn it all and do what he wants.

"conversations with elders and the wisdom they bring ... / the view from an aeroplane at twelve thousand feet"

sae views things that previously annoyed him in a new light. he used to hate his elders, but he visited you and your mother once, and something changed within him. now he calls his parents more often, and his eyes linger on the old couples near the park benches. sometimes, his gaze softens just a bit when he imagines the two of you growing old just like them.

flights used to be a mundane part of his routine, but now he finds himself leaning over your window seat to see the mountains down below. the clouds and sunny weather set him aglow. and you just look so pretty when you fall asleep on his shoulder. he doesn't ever want this change.

"meet god on a mountain top along with the stars / find love somewhere, anywhere / fall deep from the start"

sae used to avoid love, but now he's running at it full-force. people tend to shy away from making sae a romantic because it seems too ooc. however, in the right situation, i think sae could entirely abandon his previous ideals and become someone else entirely. (that's why it's called a character evolution guys.)

"misplace my mind and follow my heart"

again, if you're able to make sae lose all rationality and let his heart guide him instead, then you've really done something. kudos to you for penetrating the walls of the coldest asshole known to mankind.

"i'll be a firework, not a flickering flame / treat life all around me like a one-player game"

this one lyric applies both to younger and older sae. younger sae is someone unafraid of risking it all if it means he can achieve something worthwhile. it doesn't matter how many players he has to defeat, how many people he has to leave behind. in this world, it is just him and the goal he has to accomplish.

however, after he's mellowed out after a few years (i'd say around middle age), he probably reinterprets this as something else. he's not going to constrain himself to his tunnel vision anymore. there's so much more to life than that.

"i'll go to the party and forget all the names / should it climb back to haunt me, / it ends all the same"

sae finally lets himself live the life he never thought he'd have. he does stupid things like get drunk and make a fool of himself. but you're there for him, so he doesn't really care. in fact, he can finally say that for the first time in a long time....he's having fun.

KAISER

the fanon answer is the weeknd. i'm not going to lie, i completely agree with this one. i saw this one edit of him to "party monster," and i can say i have been fully enlightened and converted. however, this is not just about a toxic male manipulator anthem. it's much more than that.

this is about running away from the ugliest parts of yourself, becoming a slave to your vices, knowing you're broken somewhere and you can never fix it. i would say his character is most similar to "starboy" in the fact that he literally flaunts everything he has to hide the fact that deep down inside, he really has nothing else to hold onto. "starboy" is all about the status symbol (money, red lamborghinis, glass table girls turning into ebony table girls lol). but at the end of the day, he doesn't really have anything except an empty heart and a satirical quip for all those who made him famous. the same theme applies to "the morning" and "house of balloons."

in the romantic sense, i think "don't break my heart" would represent kaiser. and no, this is not a justification for him being an f-boy. it's more so an exploration of why people might think he is an f-boy. i do not condone his actions, but i do try to understand them. in particular, i feel like the lyrics of "sacrifice" also fit him well.

"i was born in a city / where the winter nights don't ever sleep / so this life's always with me / the ice inside my veins will never bleed"

i headcanon kaiser as being born in either berlin or munich. and if you don't know anything about those two places, just know that you freeze your ass off during wintertime. i think it's interesting how his past could be intrinsically tied with a place, and he takes a piece of his past self with him wherever he goes. the ice in veins part also made me think about how kaiser would rather freeze up every weakness within himself than let them run free and make him human.

"every time you try to fix me / i know you'll never find that missing piece"

guys...did you hear that? to all you delusional people out there, this is your service announcement. you cannot fix someone who does not want to be fixed. write that down and memorize it. all meaningful change starts with a shift in mindset, and if they themselves are not in the right headspace to recognize that something is wrong and actively want to change, you're not going to get anywhere. so yeah....kaiser is not going to change unless HE starts doing the changing.

"i hold you through the toughest parts / when you feel like it's the end / 'cause life is still worth living"

i think this lyric sort of explores kaiser's dynamic with ness. on one front, he is the one picking ness up from his miserable past and instilling a sense of hope into him (intentionally or not.) but on another front, this could also be a problem. kaiser is almost forcefully optimistic in the way that he believes anything is possible. it has to be possible because there can be no other way. but the thing is.....you have to know your limits sometimes. blind optimism is, ironically, similar to cornering yourself.

"i can break you down and pick you up / and fuck like we are friends / but don't be catching feelings"

this is definitely the type of bullshit kaiser would spew. i could picture a fwb or situationship with him where y/n just constantly receives the short end of the stick. now this may be reaching, but i also feel like this is how kaiser projects his own trauma onto others. he himself clawed his way up to the top and put himself back together every time he fell down. the problem is that he also expects you to be that resilient. he's going to treat you badly because you're supposed to be like him: someone who can overcome everything and strive towards the impossible.

the headcanon answer to his top artist would be keshi. in particular, i think kaiser would fit the vibe of "2 soon" and "drunk." long story short, you finally broke up with him, and he's still reeling from the impact.

within my fics, i envision a dialogue between kaiser and y/n from each one of their perspectives. so based on that, i'm going to assign him the following songs/artists:

"gibson girl" by ethel cain

i know i said earlier that kaiser's character is not solely about toxic manipulation, but you have to understand that all bad habits originate from somewhere. kaiser is innately self-destructive, and he brings you down along with him. this song is about that but from y/n's perspective. there's this idea of trying to find agency in a situation where you have none. i don't have the word count to explain ethel cain lore in all of its naked glory, but all i can say is that this song is a banger and deals with themes like femininity as a performance, finding power in pain, religious motifs, etc.

"glory box" by portishead

this song is y/n's last plea to kaiser before they fully give up on him and leave. i'm also a sucker for anything that involves an exploration of gender dynamics and what it means to be a woman, and this song is riddled with it.

"suffocation" by crystal castles

this is kaiser post-isagi defeat (cue that one scene where he was trying to choke himself.) similar to sae, it's all or nothing with him. he suffers from this feeling of inferiority. everyone made him out to be this great figure of impossible dreams and legends, but look at him now. he's nothing. aren't you disappointed? he had you fooled, but he also fooled himself. so yeah....kaiser is definitely the most self-deprecating out of all of the boys at blue lock.

ISAGI

the fanon answer is laufey, and i also agree. he's so sweet, and laufey's music just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. he would also be that one love that came creeping up on you when you least expected it. "valentine" would be the song for that. i picture a reader who's had a series of unfortunate breakups and is right on the edge of giving up entirely. but then isagi comes along, and it's just so easy to love him. as easy as breathing. and then you think maybe it wasn't so bad after all. you just never found the right one until he came into your life. furthermore, isagi is a jazz pop princess, and you can't convince me otherwise.

the headcanon answer is IU. more specifically, i would say "troll" from her lilac album. i feel like even if you and isagi broke up, it would still be like you two never broke up at all. you're both on good terms, and even though you know it's counterproductive to keep cycling back to each other, you do it anyways. and it's okay because you're both still in love.

from my own playlists, i would assign the following songs/artists:

"winter bear" by v

this is my comfort song. it feels like those big sherpa blankets you tuck yourself under when you're lying next to the heater in winter. isagi would kiss your forehead and nuzzle your nose before you two drifted off to sleep.

"a boy named pluto" by hailey knox

this one is so romantic lol. i also like the dynamic where one party is afraid to love, but the other person loves them unconditionally. that would be isagi. he'd respect your decision and wait for you as long as you need it. but if you're ever ready to give him a chance, just know that he's going to treasure all of you.

"put your records on" by ritt momney

the inspiring thing about isagi is that he never lets anyone put him down. he takes rejection as redirection, failure as room for improvement. and in that way, i think this song encapsulates his resilience. he'd be such a good boyfriend not just romantically but in the way that he would literally pick you back up to your feet, dust you off, and make sure everything was alright.

"fairy of shampoo" by dosii

i picture isagi as someone who falls first and falls harder. he just loves you so much, and he doesn't even need a reason why. i saw somewhere that sometimes you don't love someone because they're your soulmate/twin flame/supernaturally fated other. you love them because you consciously made the decision to. isagi is like that. he loves you on purpose.

helppp why does this sound like an academic paper...i'm sorry anon. i got carried away with this, but i hope u like it.

[yandere-yearnings]

ultraviolence by LDL except it's sun ❤️

i KNOW he's meant to be a cute author yan but to me he is EVIL and i think about that one "don't wanna take ur eyes away" drabble u wrote a lot more than i should dar. u did this to me. 😓😓

my apologies genie😔💔 hope giving you this (non-canon) evil sun will make up for it🤧 i was gonna add some flower motifs and stuff bc yk,, ✨️ultraviolence✨️ but i've been distracted so it got lost on me lmao

putting this one under a cut bc it's vv heavy on the implied abuse and domestic violence + reader is some sort of emotionally manipulated w/ stockholm syndrome (??) also this is definitely my worst piece writing-wise and i'm embarrassed haha subby sun enjoyers pls look away he is not very bby boy in this

There was a place he would take you to. Blindfolded in the passenger seat of his car, windows rolled down so you could feel the breeze, warm like his hand on your thigh, like the laughter swapped in breaths between the two of you. You loved him so much, not once did you question his taking your vision from you, even if only momentarily.

He promised to show you only beautiful things. You believed him.

It was a garden. Basked in green lights and shimmering white. A place where daybreak seemed eternal, because Sun only brought you there on the brightest summer mornings. He’d lift the cloth from your eyes, and each time without fail, the ethereal world around you was lost to his radiant smile. Narrowed to brown irises brimming gold, you’d dance to unspoken vows, whispered to the winds on chaste kisses. All you wanted was to spend the rest of your life with him. For that, you’d given him everything.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

Running through this empty concert hall in the dead of night; an impulsive game of cat and mouse coordinated by slivers from the dying moon. Why was it that the more distance you put between you, the more you felt you were leaving yourself behind?

Open doors to the rain outside, and the coldness of it all should’ve woken you up. That scent of mud and dirt, the taste of iron at the back of your teeth, the way you felt your heart would burst from all that welled inside — yet for a minutes, you waited there. Minutes, wishing you could feel those hands on your swollen ankles. That Sun would drag you back to him before you could make the stupid decision to walk away again.

Discordant crashes and bangs and the sound of familiar footsteps. Your grip loosened on the handle. He didn’t even chase you anymore. Sun knew you, and you knew yourself, too. You were hopeless, even if it hurt. If he were to pin you down and break your legs like he always said he would, you would feign ignorance to it all. Staring into the endless blackness that vignetted from the four corners of this grand auditorium, you’d revisit the evening he’d invited you to the orchestra with him, and pretend you remained there. 

Blind-eyed, and finally, arms around your hips. You could hear the violins. “Should I bury you, baby?” fingers snaking up, prints in purple to the column of your throat, “is that what you want?”

“I’m sorry,” you whispered. “I don’t know what’ll fix me.”

“Nothing can.” Sun was the knife and needle all at once. Nails digging into your skin, twisting your head to meet his gaze. He’d snap your neck. You were sure of it. “But it’s okay,” a soft smile, your foreheads touched. “I’ve loved you ugly, haven’t I?”

He had. Sun loved you even when his name on your skin had scabbed into a disgusting cluster of blood and tissue. He loved you when you were beaten and broken. Touched you so tenderly afterwards, you could completely forget it was him that slammed your skull against the floorboards — so insistently to the point the wood was stained to its core. Maybe it all got skewed in your head then, but you didn’t care anymore. Nobody would understand what you felt with him. You’d no longer be able to imagine life if you were to take him out of yours.

“Your legs hurt, don’t they?” he cooed, moving to stand in front of you. His thumb brushed your cheek, and came away wet. “You’re crying.”

You sniffled, leaning in, nuzzling into his all-encompassing warmth. “I don’t mean to.” It was strange how all else became insignificant like this. “I’m not sad.”

“That’s good.” Sun glanced outside, and there were strings tugging your stomach to your lungs. You wanted his attention back on you. You wanted everything from him. His deepest desires unravelled in pillow talk alone, had become your own. Now, it made sense.

So you didn’t refuse when he ushered you to your knees. Sun's praise was sweet, tone dulcet and sombre and safe when he told you to follow him, to crawl — looking out for you as always because your knees were in better shape than your feet.

The rain in rivulets over him, shirt damp quick, and sticking to his skin. Sun showed you his backbone. The smile coming to your lips felt wiry. He must’ve trusted you as much as you did him. 

“Will you take me home?”

“No,” he muttered. “To the garden. We’ll dig your grave.”

[ragdolls-and-such]

WHATS UP GUYS. H2G2 SWAP AU

alright so! roles and explanations and stuff. pretty please do not complain about how uncreative my names are for these guys i did Not want to think about it too hard. i just like my sillies + that is all Anyway lets go !!!

this is ford dent and he's having a really interesting time rn. guy who is just ITCHING to be up in the stars exploring all that madness gets beamed up into the air with his bestie and then realizes "hey i didnt realize Peril would be part of the equation. why's there so much of That" so basically he's in a constant state of conflict between the "this is cool as shit" and the "GET ME OUT BEFORE I DIE"

next up is arthur prefect (yes i know that ruins the car joke. forgive me). arthur left betelgeuse and was headed towards Somewhere for vacation. he ended up making a wrong turn, crash-landing on earth, and having to figure things out from there. unlike canon ford, he has Not researched anything in space, he just knows about it in passing, so he's just as clueless as his ford.

simply "zaphod." that's it. a personality prototype from the sirius cybernetics corporation, built to be as optimistic and friendly as possible, ended up almost completely oblivious to or uncaring of danger, and SO VERY FULL OF HIMSELF. everyone fuckin hates him basically but every time canon marvin's horrible tragedy occurs to him, he thinks to himself "well at least I'M here. at least i have Me." and slowly the feeling starts to fade as he realizes no one actually gives a shit about him as he's like. rotting away, half-sun-melted. fun stuff :)

TRILLIAN BEEBLEBROX WHO I LOVE SO DEARLY. former genius, still Sort Of a genius, maybe? she wanted to become president of the galaxy So badly. she wanted to make the milky way a better place and knew Exactly how she was going to do it. she worked relentlessly to be elected and . lost the election. realizing that the thing that kept her from being elected WAS the exact thing that made her Want to be elected in the first place - her genuine honesty and care for people - she just went "fuck it, i hate it here," and corkscrewed her brain. Ironically, ended up getting elected afterwards, because she became more "fun" as a result of this.

finally, marvin mcmillan. human teenager, about 17 years old, and was dragged along to a party by his friends. ended up meeting trillian there, who he immediately recognized as an alien (thanks to her constant bragging about it...) and he begged her to be taken away from this god awful planet. she basically unofficially adopted him but instead of adoption its more like . what do you call it when its a wine aunt + a weird angsty nephew.

that's all <3 hope you enjoyed

[johnslittlespoon]

okay listen feral bikerider gale/past catching up to him/etc etc etc anon here and can I just say. thank you. I’m not overly interested in the actual violence or gang-shit or whatever. when I first read about the bikerider au all I could think about was sons of anarchy (idk if you’ve watched it, but I watched three seasons with my dad and it’s all just. gang conflict after gang conflict after gang conflict with some romance sprinkled on top and that’s not. really my thing) and I was not into it. at all. then your yapping (affectionate) converted me. hearing that it won’t be all weapon smuggling and, idk, drugs or smth is actually so reassuring lol

and!!! obviously it’s your fic/au, I’m definitely not here to try to influence you in any way whatsoever!!! I’m super excited to read it no matter what because your writing is just. lovely. I check in pretty much every morning like I’m reading the papers lmao

doing something semi-stupid in your past feels like kind of on brand for everyone, even though it might not be illegal for most. and maybe it wasn’t illegal for Gale, either, bro I am not a very good writer, I’ll leave the plotting to someone else.

but I’ll always love the idea of Gale being a little feral. or a lot feral. like John getting hurt in a bikerider au tickles my brain the same way John punching a German guard in canon centric fics does. Nevermind the guard, I just need the fallout. the angsty fallout.

John and Gale coming back home, and Gale sitting him down in the bathroom to very, very carefully patch him up (and, listen, the other guys probably just roughed him up a little. he probably got away with minor bruises and some scrapes), and Gale being insanely worried that he has scared John. John on the other hand is worried for Gale, because what if it happens again? What if the police finds out? John being worried that he somehow messed up.

and, don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t mind reading feral gale beating the shit out of people. It’s just not something I want to read a full fic of.

finally, because I just need to add this, too: Gale’s knuckles being split and bleeding and John so very carefully cleaning them up, pressing gentle kisses to the cuts when he has to scrape the dried blood up to get it properly clean. Gale not being sure what he did to deserve John, being so sweet and gentle and caring.

okay, over and out 🫡 sorry for not being that clear in the other ask, I blame. idk, sleep deprivation. and sorry for making this so long, idk what I’m on about half the time and my meds are doing shit to my brain. I love your blog and your writing just. makes my fucking days. I’d wait forever for the next chapter of dog coded Bucky ❤️

YIPPIEE more leaving!bikeriders au >:) hii i meant to get back to this SO long ago, feels like good timing now with the bikeriders theatre day approaching! i'm assuming you're the anon from this post <3

i have THOUGHTS. aka this got lengthy oops, shocker. a bit of plotting and then like 2k words of drabble below the cut lmfaoo

the proper drabble will be further down, but first of all, very big agree!! and relieved i'm not the only one who feels this way omg. i haven't watched SOA for this reason specifically– i just don't have much interest in the conflict/violence–heavy plot stuff (which is ironic considering i'm excited for the bikeriders movie, but i think it's pretty clear that's because of the lovely cast lol since i don't care for bikes/cars in the slightest oops). HONOURED that my yapping converted you tho LOL i swear if something is character focussed, it can make 99% of topics at least somewhat appealing!

and please don't worry omg i don't feel influenced/pressured etc, i loveee bouncing ideas and brainrot back and forth for my aus, it's sm fun and i love trying to incorporate things other people like/suggest when i can!! <3 but omg i will weep thank you so much wtf?? :'))

for sure; even the most stoic/'put together' characters surely have done some not very bright things in their lives. i'm toying with a couple backstories for gale to establish what might catch up to him or cause conflict, but i'm gonna wait to decide until i see the movie because i have a feeling i'll get some good inspo from benny's story!

honestly it's the part i'll have to put the most effort into really thinking out in terms of plot to make it flow naturally, because all the relationship focussed things kinda write themselves as i brainrot. but i'm 99% sure i'm gonna write the fic from john's pov because it'll keep a lot of gale a mystery to the readers as well, and therefore save me from having to flesh out certain things until necessary lmfaoo

and yeah!! it's not always the events themselves that hit the hardest– it's the fact that the character could be feral enough for them to happen in the first place, and it's the outcome/fallout that's most fun to write/read (to me).

feral gale is so fun to explore in general because of how different it is to most of what we're shown of him in mota, so it's like a challenge to keep him feeling in character while also picking out the little parts of him that could be pushed to be that way. and of course the classic whump of the one person gale cares about and tries so hard to protect getting hurt because of him? endless angst possibilities.

i dig what you said, about john 'just' being roughed up a little, because i think with whatever backstory i end up forming, it's not like the 'bad guys' are gonna be some mastermind criminals extorting gale for something life or death lol. it's probably gonna be a bunch of rough and tumble biker men with some long lasting beef between their clubs, hitting gale where they know it'll hurt the worst: a loved one.

i bet you anything (depending on how plotting goes LOL) that they don't actually even intend to mess john up to the extent they do; i bet john runs his mouth and makes some sorta escape attempt because as terrified as he is, all he can think about is how gale's gonna obviously track him down and he's more worried about what the guys are planning to do to gale when he shows up. in his naive mind, if he can get out and get to a phone or something, he can stop everything.

ofc the escape attempt is futile because it's one gangly college kid vs a couple of grown ass men, and john gets banged up in the process, seeing as being tackled to the ground with your wrists bound behind your back doesn't leave you with anything to protect your face from concrete with, and maybe then he gets a solid fist to the face to scare him out of pulling anymore shit (it sure works).

and just the act of taking john/putting him danger alone would have gale ready to wring these men out by their necks, but when he shows up and sees his baby bleeding? and he can't tell how bad he's hurt, from where he's lurking around the corner scoping out the situation? he'd see red and be pretty dang close to saying fuck it and going in there without a plan, but the fear of john getting hurt in the process would stop him, and he doesn't feel like going down for murder.

somehow he picks off the guys one by one with a generous amount of flying fists and y'know, maybe a bit of knife–work if necessary, idk, future plotting lol, and tells them they're good as dead if they pull anything like this again. that the club will be keeping an eye out for them, that they're a buncha cowards, and they can come talk to him face to face like men, next time. you get it.

and then finally, obligatory wound care ofc <3 easily top three tropes ever ugh. gale gets john the fuck out of there and to the safety of his truck, methodical and vigilant, and only then does his guarded expression drop, and his hands are shaking just as hard as john's are when he cups john's face in his hands to look him over. john gives him a shell–shocked "'m fine, gale" and hates how guilty gale looks, because there's not even the tiniest part of john that blames gale for any of it; john knew what he was getting into (to an extent) with gale.

but regardless, gale's shaken up, terrified by how much worse things could've gone and how much danger john could've been in, but also terrified of how deeply he feels for john; probably some backstory there about gale seeing someone he loved get hurt, or almost get hurt, swearing he'd never bring someone into his life again because of it, etc, and then in waltzes stubborn, loud–mouthed john egan.

but selfishly (or what he feels is selfish), gale's also terrified that this might be the final nail in the coffin for john. he knows he's not the easiest to be with (even though john thinks the exact same thing about himself lol silly boys) and he knows john's more patient than he deserves, and could find someone his own age with a normal life in a heartbeat with his sweet disposition and charming pretty boy looks. and he knows john's well within his rights to walk away from their relationship now, to be scared of the future, to decide it's too much, and part of gale would be relieved to not have to worry, even if he'd miss john like he's lost half of himself.

it's real quiet when they're back home and john's sitting on the bathroom counter, gale between his legs, patching up his face so so gently, as if each brush of a cotton swab is an apology. both of them have lots to say but neither know how to say it; john hates knowing gale's probably shouldering all the blame and he doesn't know how to reassure him in a way that'll get through to him, but he can't handle the silence. probably makes a weak joke about how "y'shoulda seen the other guy" and doesn't even get a smile out of gale.

ends up wrapping his legs around gale's hips to pull him closer but just gets a huffed out, frustrated "john" as gale swats his ankles away, and it's not that john's trying to make light of what happened, he just doesn't know how to talk about something like that, regardless of how good he and gale have gotten at communicating.

john probably gets a bit frustrated, because gale’s already so protective over him as is, which he likes, but now gale’s treating him like glass, like he’s scared to hurt him further just by touching him, and john does not like that. it feels like progress undone, like he's back at the beginning of their relationship when gale wouldn't let him in or open up to him or trust that he was capable of making his own decisions.

so when gale's done bandaging him up with practiced, meticulous hands, john doesn't give gale time to react, just slides off the counter and snatches the little first aid kit from his hands and says "okay, your turn." and it's obvious gale wants to protest, but john catches him so off guard that he stunned into silence, lets john guide him until he's leaning against the counter.

john's hands still tremble when he takes gale's hands in his, and he tries to steady them because he doesn't want gale to see how freaked out he is, but he diligently cleans away the blood around his knuckles, feeling gale's eyes on him the whole time but not looking away from his task, scared he'll shatter the moment if he does.

if he were to look up though, he'd see gale's watching him in complete awe, struck by the fiercest wave of adoration, drawing a blank while he tries to search for what he could've possibly done in this life or another to have someone like john come (crashing, stumbling, tornado–ing) into his life.

and if we wanna make it extra yowch–y and sappy and feelings heavy: as john's brushing his lips over the cuts, dusting featherlight kisses across his knuckles, john's throat goes tight and he feels his own overwhelming rush of emotions and his heart thumps and he blurts out: "i love you."

it's the first time one of them says it. and it’s a disguised i love you even so. i love you despite. i love you anyway. i love you because. months worth of reassurances wrapped into three words, and even with what john's just gone through, he's still scared when it slips out, looks up at gale with wide, searching eyes, trying to gauge whether he's overstepped or said the wrong thing.

gale's just trying to catch his breath, feeling like the wind's been knocked out of him by the admission. half of him wants to shake his head, gently push john's hands away, tell him "no you don't, hun." a tiny part of him wants to be cruel about it, to laugh the honesty off and ensure john will walk out that door far, far away from the mess that gale is, and not turn back, safe from harm.

but the other half of him, the half that holds his heart, evidently, has him cupping john's open, sincere face in his hands, looking down into bright, fearful, hopeful blue eyes, and murmuring "i love you more."

and john blushes as hard as he did the first time they'd kissed, as hard as he did the first time he was laid out in gale's bed, as if he and gale haven't said a million things much more fluster–inducing since they met. gets all shy, pouts, looks down and mumbles "that's not fair," and that finally gets the first smile out of gale all day, maybe even a breath of a laugh.

they love each other your honour </333

this got way out of hand but what else is newwww i'm so weak for these two. so so weak. i keep saying it but MAN i'm so excited to write this fic this summer omg :')

and DON'T BE SORRY!! it's so chill omg, you were perfectly clear (but i'm glad you elaborated and gave me an excuse to yap about them some more hehehe) and never apologize for long messages, i loveee reading the brainrot and hearing ur thoughts and getting to brainrot back. and thank you AGAIN sobs 😭💗 that makes MY days and ur way too kind fml. i hope the wait hasn't been too long LOL on the chapters AND a response to this ask!! tysm again mwah

[withlovewriting]

All I Ever Knew, Only You 11: The Junkyard

Chapter Eleven.

My past has tasted bitter for years now, So I wield an iron fist, Grace is just weakness, or so I've been told, I've been cold, I've been merciless, But the blood on my hands scares me to death, Maybe I'm waking up today.

Summary: Hawkins was your typical quaint, mid-western town where nothing ever happened. People were born here, lived their entire lives within the town limits, and eventually died here, peacefully in their sleep. But one cold November evening in 1983 would change everything.

Despite a child with psychokinetic abilities and ravenous monsters that lacked faces, stranger things had definitely happened in the small town in Indiana. One of them being your reluctant and slightly imposed friendship with Hawkins High’s own King Bee, Steve Harrington.

Characters: Steve Harrington x Non-descriptive F!Reader (eventual)

Words: 6,651

Chapter Warnings: Explicit language, allusions to PTSD, mentions of child loss, bad dating advice from Steve, these two idiots do not stop riding each other's asses and I love it. I think that's it.

Series Warnings: Strong language, mentions of underage drinking, mentions of drug use, canon-typical violence, mentions of alcohol abuse, mentions of possible mental health disorders, child abuse, slow burn, kinda enemies-to-friends-to-lovers, I like to call it ‘two idiots who begrudgingly befriend each other only to realize… ‘wait a damn minute…’, eventual sexual content, no use of y/n, canon-typical time-period bullshit. 18+. Minors DNI.

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Chapter Eleven: The Junkyard

You’d planned on apologizing to Steve that morning. Really, you had every intention of doing so. But the minute he walked into third-period history, you’d ducked your head down and refused to peel your eyes away from your textbook, despite having no idea what the lesson was about.

You’d heard around the hallways that Steve and Billy had another altercation during the basketball scrimmage, the latter knocking the boy to the floor after taunting him the whole time. But you figured the further away from Billy you remained, the further away from another detention you were.

So instead, you avoided the boy — who at least seemed to have other, more pressing things on his mind — and made your way toward the town square, wandering around Melvald’s in search of a photo frame to replace the one most likely still shattered on Hopper’s floor.

“No Mrs. Byers today, Don?”

The elder gentleman peered up at you from where he was stood, rearranging stock by the cash register, “No, her boy isn’t well.”

“Jonathan?” You questioned, aware you hadn’t seen him at all that morning, still unable to get your house key back from his car.

“No, the little one. Will.”

Swallowing deeply, your hand froze halfway to the wooden frame. Kids get sick all the time, you tried to convince yourself. Hundreds of tests had been run on the boy since he’d been found, and he was fine. Whatever was going on had nothing to do with that place. It was November, he probably had the flu or something.

Shaking your head, you gripped the frame tight before making your way to the register to pay.

“Everything okay, Miss?”

Nodding, you placed down the money you’d had saved, not bothering to wait for your change as you rushed out of the shop, breath heaving in your chest. You just needed to be outside where the air wasn’t stale, too warm and suffocating.

The ride to the Byers’ household didn’t take long, but your stomach lurched the whole way there, making you almost certain that you were going to throw up.

Knocking on the door a few times, it didn’t take long for Joyce to answer, wide-eyed and worried.

“Hey, Mrs. Byers. I’m sorry to intrude like this but uh, I stopped by Melvald’s today and Don said Will was sick?”

You didn’t realize the woman’s dark eyes could get even wider.

Joyce stepped out, shutting the door behind her as if trying to keep Will from hearing your conversation, “He’s uh, he’s just not feeling well. He’ll be fine, though.”

Nodding, you couldn’t help but feel stupid that you hadn’t even brought anything. Instead, you’d just turned up, banging on the poor woman’s door.

Your mouth bobbed open for a moment, unsure as to what you could possibly say when Joyce interrupted you, her voice much lower than before, “Doctor Owens, the uh… the man who checks up on Will thinks it might be something called the 'Anniversary Effect'. He thinks Will's struggling because it’s so close to when everything happened last year. But I- I’m sure it’s just a bug or something.”

Joyce sent a tight smile your way as if she was begging you to believe her. To believe her that Will was absolutely fine, and it was just a sick bug. That rest and recuperation would make everything go away, and that everything would go back to normal. That if you believed, she could believe too.

But you didn’t, and you couldn’t.

“Can I… Can I just talk to him for like a second? I just… I don’t know. Wanna say hi…”

Joyce watched you with bated breath for a moment, clearly debating whether or not that was a good idea. Eventually, however, she nodded, opening the door back up and ushering you inside, “Not for long though, alright? He needs his rest.”

You stood in the doorway of Will’s room, the boy looking pale and small as always, fast asleep in bed with the window wide open, “Is it the flu, or?”

“We don’t know. He’s just… He’s not feeling well.”

Nodding, you sighed, wrapping your arms around yourself, “Have you tried a warm bath? If he has a fever-”

“He likes it cold,” Joyce repeated, her mind recycling the words her son had told her earlier, “He, uh… Thought the water was too hot.”

“Cold baths won’t break a fever. Not safely, anyway. Too much of a drop in temperature. I’m… I’m sorry, you totally know all this already. I should head out, but thanks for letting me see him.”

Joyce walked you back to the door, her eyes seeming a world away as she watched you clamber onto your bicycle, a wobbly voice stopping you before you could peddle off, “Do you… Are you okay? I mean… It’s a year for you too, right? You doing alright?”

Your eyes widened slightly, brain-wracking about for some kind of answer, eventually settling on a nod of the head as you sent back your own tight, slightly strained smile, “I’m fine, Mrs. Byers. See you soon.”

Your experience with Joyce had startled you, and you’d decided to leave replacing Hopper’s frame until Saturday morning. This time, you were much more weary of the trip wire.

Your throat felt like it was closing in on itself as you approached the cabin, the stairs creaking under your feet as you eyed the half-open door, causing your brows to pinch together. Hopper’s car was nowhere to be seen, which only meant one thing. Eleven had left. Again.

Quietly making your way around the cabin, calling the girl’s name out in vain, you stepped over the half-assed attempt at cleaning the shattered glass. Quickly changing the frame over, you couldn’t bring yourself to look into the familiar eyes of the little girl you’d never met. Hopper had never really spoken about Sara, at least not to you. But you’d seen him last night, the look in his eyes that told you his heart had been torn apart and never really quite healed. Bruised, battered, and broken, but somehow still beating.

You wondered if maybe that was why your mother and Jim had found each other in the first place, both mourning a loss that time could never quite heal.

That you could never heal.

The photograph looked almost odd, now the only thing untouched in a room shattered from top to bottom. A flower blooming in the middle of a battlefield.

Dusting off your hands on your jeans, you ignored the sound of glass crunching under your sneakers and made your way back out into the chilly Fall air. If Hopper had left this morning, then El couldn’t have gotten far. So you began your bike ride to the place you thought she’d head first.

The Wheeler residence.

Your hand slammed the door before it could close, leaning over Dustin as you sent Ted Wheeler a strained smile, “Hey, Mr. Wheeler. Is-”

“Nancy’s not home. She’s at Ally’s.”

“No, no. I’m not here for Nancy. I was wondering if Mike’s home?”

The man took you in for a second, watching as you all but gasped for air. You weren’t sure if your lungs or legs were burning more. Eventually, Mr. Wheeler rolled his eyes and repeated the same spiel he’d told the Henderson boy, “He’s at Will’s. Neither of our kids lives here anymore,” he scoffed, “Am I done here?”

Dustin sighed, shaking his head as he turned, ducking under your arm, “Son of a bitch. You’re really no help at all, you know that?”

“Hey! Language.”

You mumbled a quiet ‘thank you’ before following the boy up the path, grabbing your bike that had been haphazardly dumped next to his.

“Wait,” he turned to you before you could push off, “Why the hell are you looking for Mike?”

Your mouth bobbed open and closed a few times as you wracked your brain for an excuse before giving up, “It’s nothing, later Henderson.”

“No, no, wait! Are you busy?”

Facing the boy, you cocked a brow, “Clearly.”

“You know, you were much nicer last year-”

“And you were much less annoying last year-”

Your argument with the boy ceased as the sound of a car engine approached, pulling in against the sidewalk outside the Wheeler’s house. Turning, you recognized the car right away. Squeezing your eyes shut and tipping your head back slightly, you let out an annoyed sigh.

Steve Harrington made his way around the Beamer, one hand gripping a bouquet of red roses as the other fussed with his hair, the boy mumbling to himself the whole time.

“Steve,” Dustin approached him, causing Steve’s brows to pinch as he looked between you and the boy, “Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?”

“No-”

“Good,” Dustin grabbed the bouquet before making his way toward the BMW, “Nancy isn’t home.”

Steve stood, watching as Dustin opened the passenger’s seat, “Where is she?”

“Doesn’t matter, we have bigger problems than your love life. Do you still have that bat?”

Shaking your head, you pushed off, only to be halted by the pre-teen, “Where the hell are you going?”

“Anywhere that isn’t here.”

“Nu-uh, it’s a code red. All hands on deck. Get in.”

“Dustin, I got shit I need to do, so-”

“I need your help, alright? I’ll explain everything when we get there, but nobody else is picking up, and I need help.”

Releasing a long, frustrated sigh, you shoved your bike back to the floor next to his own before opening the back seat and ungraciously falling in.

You could feel Steve’s puppy-dog stare every so often as he glanced at you in the rearview mirror, the two boys arguing most of the drive,

“-Because his face opened up and he ate my cat.”

Your head darted, wide eyes staring into the back of Dustin’s headrest. When he’d said he thought it was another Demogorgon, you were apprehensive. That… thing wasn’t easy to miss, and there had been no sightings, no disappearances, nothing.

Steve pulled into Dustin’s drive, shutting off the engine as the two made their way around the back of the car to grab a flashlight and the nailed bat. Eventually, you pulled yourself from the car, a million thoughts flying through your mind, all of them begging you to not take another step.

“You alright?”

Steve stood watching you, brows pinched together in concern. You hadn’t spoken since your altercation in school, and this wasn’t exactly how you planned on spending your Saturday, “I, uh… I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know that, right? I can drop you home, sort this out myself-”

“What don’t you understand about a code red?” Dustin interrupted, shutting the open door that you were half leaning against, “All hands on deck. Now come on.”

Releasing a long, exasperated sigh, you nodded toward the boy, ducking your head down as you passed Steve and followed him into the backyard, the three of you crowding around Dustin’s locked cellar door.

“I don’t hear shit,” Steve told him before knocking on the door with his bat, “All right, listen, kid. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank… you’re dead.”

“It’s not,” Dustin argued back, eyes practically closed from where Steve was pointing the flashlight directly at him, “It’s not a prank. Get it out of my face.”

Grabbing the flashlight and essentially giving Dustin back his vision, you aimed it back toward the cellar door, “You got a key for this thing?”

You and Dustin stood back as Steve opened the doors, fist wrapped tightly around the nailed bat.

“You sure you wanna do this?” Steve asked, his eyes remaining on the dark basement before peering up at you from where he sat squatting on the floor.

Chewing your lip, your eyes remained steadfast on the empty space as you reaffirmed your grip on the light, “It’s fine. I’m pretty handy with a flashlight.”

You could see the corner of Steve’s mouth pull up in your peripheral but chose to ignore it as the boy stood up.

“I’ll stay up here in case he tries to escape…” Dustin swallowed, his eyes drawn to the darkness of the door. Dart had to be down there somewhere and if he was hiding, Steve and his bat was everyone's best chance of sorting this out and keeping all their limbs.

Your heartbeat pounded in your ears as you watched Steve begin his descent, quickly following after him as your chest grazed his back, flashlight held high over his shoulder in an attempt to find this stupid giant lizard before it found you.

Steve kept the hand that wasn’t holding the bat behind him, caging you behind his body until you both reached the basement floor.

If there was any sound to be heard, you wouldn’t have been able to hear it over the sound of your own heartbeat echoing around in your ears.

Your hand gripped the back of Steve’s jacket as he led you further underground, your flashlight slowly casting light over the area until Steve tugged on the light switch. Stopping abruptly, he leaned over slightly before lifting his bat and inspecting what seemed to be a layer of skin, still dripping with some kind of goo.

“Holy shit,” you mumbled, stepping out from behind Steve for the first time and pointing the light toward the other end of the room, “Dustin? Get down here.”

The boy's sneakers sounded all too loud in the small room. He approached Steve first, his eyes focused on the end of his bat, “Oh, shit.”

“Henderson, you never said this thing could dig through walls.”

Dustin looked up to where you were pointing the flashlight, noticing the large hole in the wall that had definitely not been there before, “Oh, shit.”

Unpacking the trunk of Steve’s car, your nose twisted as you set a bucket full of raw meat down, “This is absolutely disgusting.”

“Well, if you have any better ideas, I’m all ears.”

Scoffing, you leaned against the car, pulling at the yellow rubber gloves that had already made your hands clammy, despite the cold morning air, “I didn’t say it was a bad idea, just a gross one.”

Between tossing and turning, and jumping at every little sound outside your bedroom window, you had barely slept. To say you felt grumpy would be an understatement, but you knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep again until this possible baby Demogorgon was gone. And if El had run away from the cabin, she was most likely in the woods, and you could only hope you got to her before Dart did.

So if you had to lure the Demogorgon into the junkyard by tossing pieces of raw meat that Steve had thankfully brought that morning, then so be it. But it didn’t mean you had be be happy about it.

Stomping off in front of the boys, Dustin finished his call with Lucas before joining you, the three of you kicking up leaves as you made your way along the train tracks.

“So let me get this straight,” Steve huffed, throwing out another piece of meat despite complaining for a full three minutes to use to meat sparingly, “You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who… who you just met?”

You’d been ignoring their idle conversation so far, but the comment about a new girl — most likely Max — piqued your interest.

“All right, that’s grossly oversimplifying things.”

“I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug, anyway?”

“An interdimensional slug? Because it’s awesome.”

“Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t, I just… I don’t know. I just feel like you’re trying way too hard.”

Rolling your eyes, you threw a piece of meat down a little harder than necessary.

“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?”

“It’s not about the hair, man. The key with girls is just… just acting like you don’t care.”

Your face scrunched up, despite knowing neither boy could see it. The last person Dustin needed girl advice from was Steve.

“Even if you do?”

“Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts.”

Apparently, your scoff was much louder than you’d anticipated.

“What?” Steve asked, and you could already picture his eyebrows knitted together before you’d even turned around.

Walking backward, you continued to throw small chunks of meat, nose still wrinkled in revulsion as you stared him down, “That is the dumbest advice I’ve ever heard.”

“It is not-”

Turning your attention to Dustin, your tone softened slightly, “Don’t listen to Harrington for girl advice, alright?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m great with girls.”

“You’ve had flings with half the girls at school, sure. I don’t think that constitutes as great with advice.”

“I’ve had plenty of girlfriends, actually. I mean, how many relationships have you been in? You’re not exactly an expert.”

Brow pinched together, you threw a chunk of meat a little too close to the boy’s sneaker, “I don’t have to be an expert in relationships to be an expert at girls, Harrington. You might’ve forgotten, but I am one. And that advice is bull crap.”

“Well, it’s worked for me, hasn’t it?”

“Oh, sure. I mean, that’s why you’re out here with us, right?” You watched as Steve’s Adam’s apple bobbed, the annoyance from his face draining slightly as he watched you, hurt in his eyes.

Refusing to give in, you quickly spun back around, “Just take my advice, Henderson. If a guy acts like he doesn’t care, we’re gonna presume he doesn’t, and that’s not cute.”

Dustin was quiet for a moment as he considered his options. You were, in fact, a girl. But Steve did have a reputation in town that even he’d heard of. Girls in his grade fawned over the idiot, as did their mother’s. So, leaning in a little closer, Dustin dropped his voice, “So then what? After you act like you don’t care?”

“You just wait until, uh… until you feel it.”

“Feel what?”

Sighing, Steve resumed throwing the meat pieces, his own voice a little quieter in an attempt to keep you and your wrong opinions out of his conversation. He didn’t know much, but Steve definitely knew how to get the girl,

“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, you know? You can’t see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh… electricity, you know?”

“Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-”

“No, no, no, no… Like a… Like a sexual electricity.”

“Oh.”

Steve threw another chunk of meat on the path, doing his best to avoid stepping on the pieces you’d already thrown, “You feel that, and then you make your move.”

“So that’s when you kiss her?”

“No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo.”

“Sorry…”

“Sure, okay, some girls, yeah… They want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot, and heavy, like a… Like a, I don’t know… Like a lion. But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy… Like a… Like a ninja.”

“What type do you think she is?” Dustin questioned, his head tipping toward you slightly, causing Steve’s brows to pull together in thought.

“I, uh… I don’t know. I don’t think she even knows.”

The boys watched you for a moment as you haphazardly threw the meat slices in front of you, mouth still twisted in disgust at the copper-like smell invading your nostrils from the raw meat, but your head was tipped upward slightly, no longer concerned with their conversation and instead focused on your surroundings. On alert, almost.

“What about Nancy?”

Steve turned toward the younger boy, brows pinched slightly, “She’s uh… Nancy’s different. She’s different than the other girls.”

“Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess.”

“Yeah, she is.”

Dustin let out a long sigh, his mind still clouded with confusion that could only be felt by a preteen, “But this girl’s special, too, you know? It’s just, like, something about her.”

Steve stopped the boy in his tracks, remembering at the last minute to not touch his jacket with his blood-covered gloves, “Whoa, whoa… Hey, you’re not falling in love with this girl, are you?”

“Uh, no. No.”

Steve watched him closely for a moment, not quite believing him, “Okay, good. Don’t.”

“I won’t.”

“She’s only gonna break your heart, and you’re way too young for that shit.”

“Hey losers,” you called out, once again walking backward, “If you wanna reach the junkyard before nightfall, you need to move. You can have your lady's luncheon after... If we survive tonight.”

You turned back around quickly, slipping on one of the damp wooden slacks as the boys picked up their pace. Steve sent Dustin a sideward glance and couldn’t help but feel a slight stab in his chest at the boy's downcast eyes.

“Faberge.”

“What?”

“It’s Faberge Organics,” Steve told him, pointing a glove at his hair as the two continued to try and catch you up.

Making your way into the junkyard you tipped the remaining meat into a large pile, turning when you heard a familiar voice call out,

“I said medium-well.”

Your eyebrows pulled up when you spotted the redhead next to Lucas, a strained, slightly shy smile on her face as the two made their way over.

“Who’s that?” Steve questioned, watching as Dustin watched the girl closely, eyes softening with a slight glint of sadness. And without an answer, Steve knew.

“Max? What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she sighed, looking around at the yard, “I mean… You said to make friends with them.”

Shrugging, nodded your head toward the large piles of junk, “Fair. Let’s get started.”

The decision had been made. You were to lure the Demogorgon to the junkyard and set it on fire whilst you all took refuge in the abandoned school bus that you were currently boarding up. It wasn’t a half-bad plan, but you still felt a little too over your head.

Placing a large sheet of metal down next to the bus, you held your hand to your chest, flexing the still bruised and sore knuckles that had connected with Billy’s face.

Taking a deep breath, you bent down and grabbed the sheet again, halting halfway back up when you spotted the half-dead grass, a barely there stain covering it. Swallowing deeply, your hands began to shake as flashbacks of last year hit you full force, the memories of the heavy lead pipe in your shaking grip, the sound of it connecting to a skull. The sound of the man dropping to the floor.

“You alright?”

Steve had been casually keeping an eye on you as he helped barricade the bus, noting how you suddenly went stock still, eyes drawn to the grass below your sneakers. When you didn’t respond, he placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, giving you a small shake,

“Hey… What’s up? Your hand hurting?”

“It’s none of your business, Harrington.” You scoffed, shaking your head in an attempt to physically remove the memories from your mind, busying your shaking hands by gripping the metal sheet tighter and handing it to Lucas before wandering back through the yard in search of anything else to help.

Steve stood, hands on hips, watching as you stormed off, kicking a can as you went. Max watched, and despite not having much more daylight, the Autumn sun was still bright enough to make her squint slightly,

“What did you do?”

Steve sent her an unamused glance, eyebrows pinching together in offense, “What makes you think I did something wrong?”

“You’re a guy,” Max shrugged before calling out your name and wandering over to help you carry a large wooden ladder.

By the time night fell, you were all securely tucked away in the school bus, Lucas sat atop with his binoculars awaiting any sign of Dart.

Steve sat flicking his lighter open and closed, the soft tinkering sound scratched against your brain in a way that made you want to throw both him and the lighter out of the window. Instead, you remained seated, feet pulled up on the seat next to you as you checked out your hand in the small amount of light left inside the bus.

“So, you really fought one of these things before?” Max asked, her brow cocked slightly as she watched Steve dubiously. At first, she’d assumed Lucas was lying, or at best, exaggerating.

Steve’s eyes met the girls before drifting over to yours, watching as you swallowed thickly and pulled the front of your jacket together subconsciously.

When Steve nodded, Max continued, “And you’re like, totally 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Shit, don’t be an idiot, okay? It wasn’t a bear. Why are you even here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.” Dustin interrupted, pacing back and forth.

“Henderson, be nice.” You mumbled, sending him a glare. Clearly, he was taking Steve’s advice this time.

Max, with raised brows at the sheer audacity of Dustin’s attitude, scoffed as she stood, making her way toward the ladder where Lucas was still perched as a lookout, “Geesh. Someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime?”

“That’s good, show her you don’t care,” Steve mumbled once the girl was out of sight.

Dustin stood with his hands in his jacket pocket, guilt obvious on his face, “I don’t… Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

Shaking your head at the two idiots, you leaned back against the covered window looking toward the roof.

“Is it still hurting?”

Finally meeting Steve’s eyes, you flexed your hand as you studied it, “Kinda.”

“Here, let me see,” Steve pushed himself upward, pocketing his lighter and knocking your knees, hinting at you to move your feet to allow him to sit down.

Apprehensively, you placed your hand into Steve’s outstretched one, eyes boring into him as he turned your hand over a few times, fingers grazing the bruised knuckles, eyes jumping to meet yours when he touched a too-tender bit of skin, “Does that hurt?”

Biting back a sardonic response, you simply nodded, now avoiding his caramel eyes. Steve closed and opened your hand a few times before placing your hand back onto your lap, “I think it’s fine. Probably just bruised but… I don’t think it’s broken.”

Sighing, you held your hand against your chest again, “Nobody ever told me it hurt so much to punch someone.”

“Yeah, well… I’m usually on the other end of a fist, so…”

You felt the corners of your mouth pull up as you finally met his eyes, “I mean, between you and Jonathan, it was like watching two stray cats fight. Pretty embarrassing on both fronts.”

A small laugh escaped Steve as he swiveled slightly on the seat, facing forward, “Yeah well, it wasn’t exactly my finest hour.”

Your leg bounced — thigh brushing against Steve’s own — as you picked at your cuticles, causing the boy to return his attention your way, “You didn’t have to come, you know? We would’ve… I would’ve understood if this was too much for you.”

Placing your hand down on top of your thigh to physically stop it moving, you shrugged, eyes gazing over Dustin who was still pacing, “Wasn’t really an option… I couldn’t leave them to deal with it alone. Couldn’t leave you to deal with it alone, either. Especially after you came back last year, you know?”

Since last year, neither you nor Steve had brought up the Demogorgon attack that left you forever scarred, and you’d really been naive enough to hope that it was a one-time situation. Like Hell wouldn’t rip itself a new asshole and start all of this shit again. You wanted nothing more than to lock your door and hide yourself away, the childish false sense of security that only came from hiding under your blanket — or in your case, the closet — but you couldn’t leave these kids to face that thing alone.

And as you said, Steve came back, and without him, you’d most likely have faced a similar fate to Barb that night. This Demogorgon would have to rip those kids from your cold, dead hands before you’d let it get to them.

“I uh, I heard about your fight with Nancy. At Tina’s party…” you watched as Steve ducked his head, gnawing on his bottom lip, “People fight all the time, alright? You shouldn’t let one drunken fight at some stupid Halloween party ruin your relationship. The roses were a nice touch. I’m sure she’ll love them.”

Steve shifted in his seat, a long, exasperated sigh falling from his lips, “We’ve been pretty on and off since last year.”

Your brows shot up toward your hairline, that was news to you, “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Steve.”

But the boy shook his head, a far-off look in his caramel-colored eyes, “Tommy said he saw her ditching school with Jonathan. Nobody’s seen them since Thursday…”

“Yeah, well… Tommy’s a grade-A dickhead. I wouldn’t pay any attention to him.”

“Easier said than done,” Steve sent you a strained smile, lips pressed tightly together, “I don’t know… Nancy and I, we argue a lot but… Not like this.”

You watched him for a moment, his downcast eyes unable to hold your gaze, “What happened?”

Before Steve could respond, a loud, shrill shriek was heard throughout the junkyard… Dart was here.

Rushing toward the window, you peered through looking for any sign of movement, but the late evening fog had rolled in, distorting your vision, “Guys? What’s going on?”

Moving toward the ladder, Dustin took your place, mumbled words exchanged between himself and Steve as the elder boy continued to search for the Demogorgon.

“I’ve got eyes! 10 o’clock!”

“There,” Steve pointed a finger through the makeshift grate.

“What’s he doing?” Dustin questioned, watching as Dart sniffed around, but remained hidden in the fog, a low-pitched growl echoing around you.

“He’s not taking the bait… Why is he not taking the bait?”

“Maybe he’s not hungry…” Dustin offered, his heart beating so loud it was ricocheting in his ears.

“Maybe he’s sick of cow…”

Your head snapped round, no longer concerning yourself with Max and Lucas who were still perched on the roof, eyes connecting with Steve’s as he pulled away from the window and turned toward you, “Don’t even think about it, Harrington. I swear to God-”

But it was too late, and your words were lost on the boy who’d already made up his mind, nailed bat in his grip as he ignored Dustin’s calls along with your glare, throwing the boy his lighter, “Just get ready.”

Your body froze as you watched him exit the bus, the door creaking as it slid back into place, only moving to grip the grating that covered the window so you could watch the boy’s every move with bated breath.

If Dart didn’t kill him, you just might.

Steve whistled as he made his way further into the fog and further from the safety of the bus.

Rushing down the rickety ladder, Max appeared by your side, “What’s he doing?”

“Expanding the menu,” Dustin shrugged, eyes peeled on Steve and his surroundings, voice full of wonder and awe.

Taking Max’s place atop the bus, you mumbled to Lucas to get back inside, but the boy was as defiant as you remembered, binoculars attached to his face as he watched Steve goad Dart.

“Human tastes better than cat, I promise.”

Eyebrows pinched together, you let out a shaky breath, “I swear to god, I’m gonna kill him. I’m going to drag him back into this bus by his damn hair, and kill him myself.”

Your back straightened, feeling like the oxygen had been punched out of you as the creature appeared from the fog on all fours, a much smaller version of the Demogorgon you’d encountered last year, but still much bigger than Dustin had last seen him as.

If he was malting, shedding his skin, you had no doubt in your mind that this… thing, was going to end up exactly as the one last year had.

You wanted to squeeze your eyes shut, to lock yourself back in the bus and allow the panic attack that was nipping at your heels to enshroud you. Pretend this isn’t happening and wait it out until it was all over.

But Steve was still out there, face to face with a monster, and you couldn’t peel your eyes away from the scene.

Shuffling back, you drew in another shaky breath, eyes darting around the junkyard, hoping there was something that you could use to assist the boy, but knowing you weren’t that brave. Not with those things. And then you saw it. Saw them.

“Holy shit. Lucas… Lucas, over there!” The boy turned, jumping slightly as he saw not one, but two more Demogorgons.

Sharing a look with you, the boy called down, “Steve, watch out!”

“A little busy here!” The boy called back, refusing to take his eyes off the beast in front of him. One wrong move, and he’d be in scraps on the floor.

“Harrington, you need to get back here now.”

Steve straightened his back slightly, turning toward you when a movement to his right captured his attention.

“Steve!�� Dustin called, rushing to the front of the bus where he opened the door, “Abort! Abort!”

A loud growl could be heard before Steve had even managed to consider moving, one of the Demogorgons ran toward him on all four legs. Managing to roll over the trunk of an abandoned car, Steve swung his bat as the rest of the monsters began to rush him.

You rushed down the ladder and back into the bus with Lucas on your heel, and shoved your way past Max and Dustin, both calling the older boy’s name as he began his sprint back towards the sanctuary of the bus, which in hindsight wouldn’t be able to keep the monsters out for long.

Steve met you at the door, your hand connecting with the lapel of his jacket to help haul him inside as Dustin hit the door lever, the sound of the metal clanging as the monster ran head first into it, unable to fully come to a stop.

Managing to turn in your grip, the momentum from Steve sent you both backward and the boy used his long legs to press against the door as the monster began to ram itself against it in an attempt to gain entry.

“Are they rabid or something?” Max asked, more confused than ever.

Managing to grab a sheet of metal from the windshield, Steve held it against the door and pressed against it with his feet once more as Lucas and Dustin continued to yell behind you. The bus lurched, a clear sign the other Demogorgons were now attacking the bus as you shoved Steve forward, rolling out from under him,

“Get to the back, and stay low.” You barely sent the kids a glance as you began to look around the bus for anything to use as a weapon whilst Steve began to whack at the monster who’d managed to get a claw through the metal sheet.

Dustin grabbed his radio, shouting for help from anyone who would listen, until a large claw hit at the back door, denting it in the shape of its hand.

“Shit!” Dustin yelled, trying his radio once more, “We’re at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!”

You didn’t bother to berate him, nor did you bother to hold out any hope that someone would be able to help, too focused on pressing your back against a large hunk of metal that was keeping one of the monsters outside, hoping to God it wouldn’t pierce through both the metal and yourself.

A loud banging could be heard from the roof, and it took you a second too long to remember that the ladder was still in place, giving whatever was on the roof free access to get inside. Max, who was standing almost directly under the gap let out an ear-piercing scream as the monster growled at her, and you felt absolutely helpless as you stood against the door, constantly slamming your full body weight back into it, trying in vain to keep the monster out.

Steve, thankfully, was quicker than you, and rushed toward the ladder, shoving Max out of his way and into safety as the demogorgon looked down on him, mouth wide open as it continued to growl.

“You want some? Come get this!” Steve shouted with the bat raised high and ready to attack.

Your brows pulled together in confusion as the clanging against the door stopped, no longer shoving into your back. Steve had also frozen, his once protective stance relaxing ever so slightly as he watched the monster peer over its own shoulder, no longer interested in the 5-piece human nugget meal that was on offer inside the bus.

You heard one last growl before the bus shook once more, the monster leaping from it. You could hear the growls of the other monsters, but they seemed to be getting quieter and more distant. But you still couldn’t find it in yourself to push away from the door, too scared that they were just playing with their food.

You all stood in a tense silence for a moment, eventually realizing that for some reason, the monsters had left. Sucking in a long, deep breath you tried to blink away the tears that lined your eyes as you focused on the driver's seat in front of you.

Steve approached you much like he would a wounded animal, steps light and eyes soft and wide as he appeared in front of you, bat still in his grip but no longer protectively raised, “Hey, it’s alright. They’ve gone. We’re okay.”

Your breath released a little too shaky for your own liking, but as the adrenaline left your body, you began to shake, still too afraid to step away from the door.

Steve’s eyes only narrowed as they took you in, scanning your body for any injuries you might’ve had that could cause you to suddenly become mute. Once he was certain you weren’t going to end up bleeding out in the back of his Beamer once again, he placed his bat on the driver’s seat and stepped into your space, eyes finding yours as he ducked his head slightly.

Stepping forward, you ignored the clattering of metal as the sheet you had been holding up fell to the floor, chest bumping against Steve’s as you pulled him into a tight hug, nails digging slightly into his shoulders as your arms wrapped around him. Steve’s eyebrows shot up toward his hairline, shock evident on his soft features as he stood frozen for just a moment before finally wrapping his own arms around you, one hand rubbing up and down your back in an attempt to soothe you.

“I need to uh, I need to go check they’re gone. Just stay here, alright?” Steve’s words were murmured into your hair as he slowly untangled himself from you, pulling back and gazing down at you until you nodded, “I’ll be right back.”

Steve stepped off the bus as silently as he could — which considering there was scrap metal everywhere wasn’t all that quiet — with his bat raised, ready to strike but hoping he wouldn’t have to. Once the coast was finally clear, the rest of you trailed out behind him.

“What happened?” Lucas asked, eyes still darting around the junkyard just in case.

“Steve scared ‘em off?”

“No,” Steve sighed, turning to face the group, “No way. They’re going somewhere.”

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 46 – IDENTITY PORN

Wrecking Ball by Sineala

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 1,827 Tags: Humor, Fluff, Mistakes

Summary: Steve is in a wonderful relationship with his teammate Iron Man, adored by the public. Steve and Avengers benefactor Tony Stark are just very good friends. It should be easy to remember that.

Reasons why I love it: Oh Steve, you loveable dork. This fic is so light-hearted and fun, it's super refreshing considering how angsty this trope can be. And their dialogue towards the end makes me so happy, both Steve and Tony feel very in character. I love this one, and I bet you will too!

Pseudonym Salacity by Amuly

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 3,992 Tags: PWP, Dirty Talk, Bottom Tony

Summary: Steve finds out that his boyfriend, the genius industrialist billionaire Tony Stark, is Iron Man. And likes it. A lot.

Reasons why I love it: Putting the “porn” in identity porn. Steve's eagerness is really fucking hot, and I love their banter throughout the whole thing. Also, the bits about Steve's swearing make me chuckle every time I read them. This fic is amazing, and I highly suggest you read it!

When you need an Engineer by MountainRose

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: NR Words: 1,474 Tags: Blood, Injury, Recovery

Summary: Iron Man is injured in the field; Steve needs Tony to come and help him. Tony is hurt in the field; he needs Steve to save him.

Reasons why I love it: Hell yeah, give me all the Tony whump! I really love Steve's inner monologue here, his desperation and fear is so raw, plus his outrage at Tony's 'absence' feels very in character. And the moment he realizes just who pilots the Ironman armor is excellent. Definitely check this one out, it's incredible!

Cherry Ride by copperbadge

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 12,318 Tags: Iron Man 2, Canon Divergence, Car Sex

Summary: A SHIELD agent named Roger Stevens told Tony that his nickname was "Cap". Tony didn't connect the dots until it was much, much too late.

Reasons why I love it: This fic excels at the kind of double-meaning conversations that let us as the readers know that Steve is an absolute master at saying the truth without actually letting Tony in on his secret. Half the time, the dialogue feels like watching a very satisfying game of chess, the other half they're giving major married couple vibes, and I'm here for every minute of it. I love this one, and if you haven't read it yet, you absolutely should!

Eavesdroppers Never by Sineala

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: T Words: 7,729 Tags: Hypothermia, Huddling for Warmth, Canadian Shack

Summary: When Tony made the decision to have a secret identity, he had several well-considered and carefully thought-out reasons. But there were a few scenarios he never took into account. He never imagined that he, Iron Man, would be cuddling naked with Captain America in a Canadian shack in the middle of a snowstorm. He also never imagined that Captain America would pick that moment to tell him, Iron Man, about his feelings for Tony Stark. Uh-oh.

Reasons why I love it: This fic has one of my favorite identity reveal scenes of all time. I always love when Tony's secret identity comes to bite him in the ass, and a heartfelt confession from Steve being the catalyst is so satisfying. I mean, who doesn't like an 'Oh shit' moment? This fic is amazing, and if you haven't read it yet, you definitely should!

[accidentally-in-fictional-love]

Things I Noticed While Writing Light The Fuse: Part 15, Episode 5

This Magic Moment to end off this half of the series, so excited to write what happens next 😊

They're watching each other again, they're always watching each other when Matty drives. I wonder what they're thinking about, if Ethan is still thinking about how it didn't make sense, or how they accept him and want him there, if he's wondering if he should really stay because there's no need to go back even if he's wrong? And Matty, if he's wondering (my hands no joke just type wonderful on instinct) if he'll stay, or how he's feeling after their talk, if he's okay, or maybe if he's wondering what else Ethan might be hiding from them or if he's ready to keep accepting him no matter what the truth is.

I need to talk to everyone who worked on this show or I will end up haunting the earth with unfinished business

This song is so them-coded I needed to make it theirs only to make it hurt, I'm all for a good song being ironically played in serious scenes, it's hilarious to me and this is the other scene I filmed on my phone to share the first time I saw it, but c'mon, does it not fit them being in love exactly?

Sure doesn't look too happy to see her even though she should be signifying that he can go home soon huh. She even told him she'd be down there and he looks more shocked than relieved, and half of me is like 'she's there to take him home and he doesn't want that' and the other half is like 'he told her the times and now she appears and this is bad news' like how I wrote it in my fic, but this is canon Ethan so he could also be thinking anything with how he doesn't look too worried when they arrive

Poor Matty he's just glancing over at a passing car, he's heard her voice, seen her here, and also meets her and never once does he connect the dots I need to protect him from the oncoming heartbreak he goes through enough

Thank you, dear god, if I saw anyone else play Johnson it wouldn't have worked even half as well, there is only one Johnson and he can only be played by David Dastmalchian and I stand by that so hard.

Also lol at Matty leaning back so far and seriously cause he's in the shot

This is also unforgivable, how dare she do this right after sending the Brawlers after him, she's officially put him into danger by association and she knows it and she still gives him this wave, as a character she's so fascinating but my god I can't forgive her

And then it's over. You can only pray that this has nothing to do with what you talked about yesterday, Ethan, and that they'll still love you when it all comes out

The casual pull up, this is just another normal drop, things are calm, Ethan gets to toss Matty the bag this time, he fixes his sleeves Johnson-style, and then it all goes to hell. This is probably the first time Matty's seen anything like this, since he got here after the war and all, and Johnson's probably thinking 'oh no not again' after so long of things being good, but Ethan, with him seeing this and then throwing away his phone next ep, he knows that this is his fault

Matty freaking out and explaining things to a couple random Brawlers before turning to Johnson as he walks away, Johnson motioning for someone to come over, and Ethan for some reason went to talk to his own random Brawler, interesting choice there, I wonder what he said

This shot has an interesting cut, on Hulu it starts later and goes for longer, and on Amazon it starts sooner and ends halfway through, so I spliced them together to make one big shot. I know they did it since the following scene was cut and they needed to keep the Joel continuity, but still, I loved seeing all the differences between the two as I did this ep

Oooooooough Matty all curled up while he talks to Joel, he's the only one who wants to become a Brawler and he's the one panicking the hardest here outta all of them, even Ethan is just standing around while Johnson sits off to the side, why wouldn't he also be talking to Joel about this? I'm telling you, he only talks to people whenever Matty can't, and I will bring this up again when I do ep6 and 10

This scene was cut entirely, which is a shame since it's so good. We got Matty being all panicky and fidgety, we got Meredith being sisterly to Lyla which is always nice, we got Avron 😒 and we got a nice shot of Johnson they robbed from us. The rest of their convo is unintelligible, I can make out Matty saying 'He just-' and then that's it, with whispers of them still going, wish the Brawlers could've talked a little less here

I love the reveal that Bash did this cause Percy was his brother, every reveal is great in this show, but this is about the Phoenixes so we must look at them. Of course they gotta go back to show them what happened, but what I wanna know is why Ethan is the one chosen to drive back. I wrote Matty as being too wired to concentrate, and Johnson is taking his sweet time back there (he throws out his cigarette twice lol) but you'd think that Ethan might also be too wired since he saw an actual dead body like an hour before, even if they don't know each other that well.

There's also something in the backseat of the third gif and I still have no idea what it is

Like is this a piece of film equipment? I have no idea what that thing is in both show and real world context, it almost looks like a speaker or something

Bonus Meredith and Lyla cause this shot was also cut, the rest of the ep is the same from here

All three of them waiting outside and giving them time to inspect/grieve 🥺 they didn't even try to stop Bash when he rushed out, they just get back in the car and wait for Joel to follow. Matty doesn't even really look in, he's just looking down and away, which Johnson does at the same time I just noticed

Matty is driving, but there's no one in the backseat unless they turned into shadows or I'm blind

RIP Gary, your promised rematch with Matty would've been legendary

It's hard to see cause this is the world's darkest bar but Johnson actually reacts to this one, he touches his forehead just over Joel's shoulder near the end

Matty once again looking to only Johnson while he's already looking at them and not the carnage /)o(\ This is what your loyalty to Doris did, Ethan! Just tell her to fuck off instead of answering her ;w;

And that's it, I won't do the rest of the eps until I'm done writing Light the Fuse, which I was hoping to be doing this whole time but it's been so busy I haven't had a chance to sit down and write anything OTL but since this ended up finishing on a Tuesday, I'll give myself one more week to try and stock up (since I've got nothing to post heh ;w;) and then in a few months when this fic is all done we can look at more details together~

Thanks so much for joining me so far, this has been a lot of fun and I can't wait to get back to working on both the fic and this series again asap ❤️💙💛

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

Rating: Mature Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/M, M/M, Multi Fandoms: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), Iron Man (Movies) Relationships: Justin Hammer & Loki, Justin Hammer/Loki Characters: Justin Hammer, Tony Stark, Loki (Marvel), Phil Coulson, Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Melinda May, En Dwi Gast | Grandmaster, Taneleer Tivan, Topaz (Marvel) Additional Tags: Domestic Avengers, Avengers Family, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Not Canon Compliant, Everybody Lives, Living Together, Enemies to Friends, rivals to friends, Baking, Getting to Know Each Other, Banter, Fluff, Humor, Fluff and Humor, Family Fluff, Team as Family, Family Feels, Bonding, Family Bonding, Team Bonding, Second Chances, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas references, Mentions of Morgan Stark - Freeform, Mentions of Timmy Hammer (Justin's nephew), moodboard, Tony Stark's Cars, Tony Stark loves his cars and doesn't want to share them, Mission Fic, mission, Road Trips, Developing Friendships, Talking, Sparks of interest, Teasing, Flirting, There Was Only One Bed, How Justin Got His Groove Back, Pet Names, Loki's magic (Marvel), Team Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Blood, Blood and Violence, Not Taylor Swift Friendly, Not Travis Kelce Friendly, hostages, X-Men Cameos Language: English Collections: Marvel Rare Pair Collection, Marvel Rare Pair Bingo 2023 Published: 2024-06-28 Words: 34,750 (total) Chapters: 7/7

For @kleenexwoman who gave me this prompt for the 50 cliché tropes and prompts: 33. Everyone thinks I should stay away from you because you're dangerous

For the @marvelrarepairbingo's Moodboard Madness, prompts: 7. Road Trip and will likely fall under 3. Mission Gone Wrong and more than likely (in fic) 8. There was only one bed.

We made it, my lovelies. We made it to the end of this story. Thank you so, so much for picking this story to read, as unusual as the pairing is, and sticking with it through to the end. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

That said, I'm sure that I'll be revisiting this 'verse again someday. I hope you'll come along for the ride then, too.

Until then, thank you again!

[nukanobody]

Weird as hell to start off a blog like this but hi, i'm NukaNobody, i like making head canons, i'm fixated on fallout 4 atm, so here's my head canons on the hygiene of fallout 4 companions.

Why did I do this? I got in a debate w some people and realized that the sole survivor would immediately perish if they got defrosted to only go to the commonwealth where it's been 200 years of radiation, dead bodies with rot everywhere and the lack of access to good water would mean it would be stank as hell.

read more for explanations, send an ask for anything

Danse

Brotherhood probably has a rule about hygiene considering they want to look good and close quarters.

After his banishment he doesn't need to shower because he's a synth, but occasionally does it as a comfort to remind himself of the time he was human.

Probably smells like gunpowder, Copper and Cedar.

Piper

Likes to take care of herself.

Will sometimes splurge on handcrafted soap made from brahmin fat or perfume made from flowers.

Smells of ink and sweets

Deacon

Can't be sneaky when you're stinky

Scent probably changes a lot due to disguises, but there's always an undertone of citrus/lemon

Curie

Is a robot, a one in good condition at that. Probably smells like, febreze or fake flowers and chemicals, the type to give you a headache.

Nick Valentine

Learnt how to maintain himself so he somewhat good condition,

Likes to keep clean to make himself more approachable for someone who is obviously a synth.

Smells of Cigarettes and expired pre-war cologne.

Codsworth

Neglected his condition out of concern for his family, never really cared for himself so he's pretty banged up and rusty.

Smells of Rust (duh) and motor oil (duh), with a hint of baby powder.

x6-88

I haven't gotten too far in game yet (only 2 days on my save) but since he's a synth that's still apart of the institute, smells like new metal/plastic (there's a smell from it i swear) and rubber. So he's like a new car.

Hancock

Are you surprised. I love the guy and romance'd him but he would not smell good at all.

More focused on good neighbor than showering, doesn't really see the use of wasting water but does out of respect for other people's noses.

He'd probably smell absolutely horrendous, rotten radiated flesh, smell of old pages, chems and dust. Imagine going through your grandma's attic where she accidentally left thanksgiving turkey leftovers in there for the past 2 weeks. Yeah that's what he smells like.

Preston

Used to shower more before the quincy massacre but became too overwhelmed afterwards and concerned about resources being wasted where it could do good in settlements.

Eventually does begin to shower 1-2 a week when he feels secure with settlement procedures

Smells slightly of burning (laser) ash and foliage.

MacCready

On the open road a lot and more focused on acquiring caps, only showers and takes care of himself when the people he's killing can smell him from miles away.

One of his biggest insecurities, will start fights if you even say he might smell bad even if he does.

Smells like rubble, gunpowder and oddly enough eggs.

Strong

The most he's showered is like, wandering into a lake every few months, if that's even considered.

I'm not even gonna attempt to describe how rank he'd be

Cait

Does not care if she smells at all, more focused on survival, understandable.

Will MAYBE shower if she gets too uncomfortable with how much grime and sweat she'd accumulate, but even then it's like, 13 seconds long.

After going clean, might shower a bit more because she doesn't spend her only caps on chems or alcohol.

Smells of sweat, iron, and gin. After going clean she'd still smell of sweat and iron, with a hint of peppermint.

[otaku-tactician]

2, 14, 23, and 44 for cu chulainn/lancer

Hello, thank you very much for the ask!! I am very grateful. I wish you well, too. These are some pretty tough questions, so I'm just going to roll off by vibes.

Some of my responses may be a bit random lmao, Lancer Cu drives me into the very depths of the abyss, and leaves me questioning many things.

Cu Chulainn (Lancer) Character Asks

2. 2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

I will die on the hill that I think Lancer Cu is a little bit more emotionally distant than the external image he projects to the world. I agree with all the people who say he'd be the best ally ever, but I just have a feeling deep in my gut that despite this, he still gives me a vibe of being very 'far away'. I'm not sure how to word this. I am staking my soul on the hill that he can be both overly familiar and intimate at the same time as being hard to grasp onto. He reminds me a bit of the sea, endlessly flowing into horizon.

Er I don't know really, I guess I think what I'm saying is that he definitely does strike me as good company, just that I do have these strange feelings regarding him as well.

Also I don't think he's monogamous, myths aside- he really does seem like he's out to indulge in a variety of experiences with different people, to shoot the breeze for a fair moment until it ends. I don't think he settles down easily, even if he does give an impression of being able to quickly form relationships and ties with others.

WAUGH LANCER CU REMINDS ME OF THE MIST ON A HAZY SUMMER MORNING ;; I FEEL LIKE HE GONNA FADE AWAY!!!

14. Most heroic moment

OOF. This question is extremely difficult. Cu has many heroic moments, he slays so hard so often- that I feel kind of envious at times...taking on Gilgamesh for days, rescuing Rin/enacting vengeance upon Kirei, being a major key that helps Emiya to have more ease of access when taking on larger foes- he is a very nifty and handy guy in many situations. It was also very interesting seeing how his actions can even be dangerous for the general public at times, such as in Heaven's Feel (damn the exploding cars etc that was chaos!)

But one thing that has struck me deeply is his story mode in Fate/Unlimited Codes. This is just my personal feelings, but I felt choked up by the scene in which Lancer says he was willing to go to the extremes because 'there was a woman who believed in me'. The way he honors and carries Bazett's will until the very end, despite the horrendous bullshit his story arc takes him through; left a very strong impact on me. Even in death, he never forgot her. He carried her will, up until the very last moment.

To me, that's a truly heroic thing to do. To ensure that Bazett is remembered, even after her death. Lancer's way of honoring and covering for others' wishes and needs feels very heroic to me, but also deeply tragic.

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

Gwah, this is another really difficult question! My instinct says sandalwood and pine. I'd also add in the ocean breeze. In this sense, I think my answer reflects what scents I associate with him, more than what he smells like (LMAOO CUZ THEY SAY HE HAS A BEAST-LIKE SCENT IN F/SN? WHAT DO BEASTS SMELL LIKE?!!!) To me, I also feel as if he smells like the sun when its rays shine upon a surface for a long time, but this is just indicative of my undying thirst for him.

I have a feeling Cu Chulainn may smell like the outdoors and of a metallic tang- like iron- and the smell of the game (guilty gear reference). But I doubt this would make for a nice candle...

In other words, I have no clue XD

44. Their happiest memory

Oof, this question is extremely difficult. To be honest, I am completely unsure what Cu Chulainn Lancer's happiest memory is. That is an extremely good question.

Is it memories of his loved ones? His childhood? Of the shooting star that birthed his prophecy? His boyhood deeds and early adventures? I am honestly unsure. I wish I could answer this. He does also seem to focus on the small joys of life, though. So I also wonder if his happiest memory could be something that I could possibly be overlooking.

If you or anyone else has any ideas on what the answer to this question may be, I'd love to hear it. To be honest, I would declare I don't know Lancer Cu's personality very well. And it took me like 8 years just to see past his surface by a tiny inch! So I've got a looong way to go when it comes to understanding him.

Thank you again for these asks. Whenever I think about Lancer Cu, I feel as if I'm being paddled along an epic journey, into seas that are both yet so unknown yet so profound.

IN OTHER WORDS: IM DOWN BAD BARK BARK AWOOGA

[rimeiii]

I'm watching the past GDQ Trauma Center speedruns (notably the all XS New Blood run by Thurler and the any% Under the Knife 2 run by TrjnRabbit) and my Trauma Center brain is going BRRR rn, especially as someone whose fave doctor in the entire franchise is CR-S01...

Trauma Center AU where MC is Zayne's patient and they're infected with GUILT/Neo-GUILT/Stigma/the Rosalia virus. They're desperately trying to stay alive but it's looking bleak, as some of these organisms actively harm the host - especially GUILT, which definitely counts as a bioweapon.

Or...or. Hear me out here. We're entering spoiler territory for the original Under the Knife and its remake Second Opinion so I'll put it under the cut, but imagine...

In the original Trauma Center, there are people known as Sinners, who are human hosts barely kept alive to serve as the breeding grounds for more GUILT cultivation. Canon says they're kids-teens, but what if we tweaked that around for More Pain...

What if our MC is one of those Sinners? Just barely lucid to register Zayne's presence as he desperately tries to keep them alive, using his Healing Touch to freeze their vitals as he treats whatever symptoms the GUILT inflicts onto them, until he finds a cure for the GUILT...

For added pain, I think MC should be a host for Pempti (in-universe, this strain took several separate operations to research and develop a nanomachine to aid in killing it, and it fills the lungs/liver with liquid - until it starts getting attacked, where it'll periodically release tiny organisms to inflict lacerations/create tiny tumors/drain your vitals) or Triti (one of the most annoying strains for players because it will multiply nonstop if not extracted properly, and calcification of organs doesn't sound fun either).

With MC being a host for any of those GUILT strains, the organization behind GUILT, Delphi, has MC's life as a bargaining chip. They use MC's life to basically force Zayne to work for them, otherwise the MC and the other Sinners would be killed. Pressed for time and desperate to save his love, along with realizing he's technically enabling Delphi, Zayne soldiers on through to find a cure...desperately hoping that it won't be too late, that MC will survive - even when all signs point that MC won't survive.

On a more lighthearted note, however...

Imagine MC asking if Zayne can speedrun surgery like these speedrunners, he's going to be so fucking horrified and/or offended LMAO. Mostly because the commentary is funny in the context of speedrunning, but aren't things you want your surgeon to say. Some choice quotes in the GDQ speedruns include:

"(vs the Cheir and Kyriaki dual boss in New Blood) Hey buddy can you make more lacerations? (Cheir makes more lacerations) Thanks!"

"(farming chain on Cheir lacerations, and Cheir is almost dead, still on New Blood) Doctor, please end the operation." "NO."

"So we're going to boost vitals..." "Yeah that's kinda necessary after you put the patient through 7 cardiac arrests..."

"(finishing the first operation in all any% speedruns) This is going to be the last time we're disinfecting the wound before applying the bandage. Gotta go fast!"

"Yeah so we're going to let some of these aneurysms burst..." this happens on almost every any% aneurysm operation, they're so bad i still hate the three patients brain aneurysm stage from Under the Knife 2 to this day. oh also, bringing scalpels to excise aneurysms willy nilly on the brain.

"(vs Brachion X stage, New Blood) There is no chain requirement here so you are allowed to let the toxins reach the end..."

"(vitals at 0, which is technically 0.x ingame, so the patient isn't dead yet) Nice vitals..." "The patient is alive, that's what matters!"

"Okay so ignore the glass shards in the heart for now..."

"Don't ask how an entire ribcage got stuck inside their lung."

"So, we're now operating in the back of a moving car!"

"Ironically, the best way to boost chain is to let your patients suffer."

"Welcome to the anime malpractice simulator!"

"The way to stop his crankiness is to poke him with a scalpel until he stops bleeding. (shrugs) It's medicine."

"Two malpractices make a positive, right?" "Yeahh, but we'll end up in the thousands...don't know where that bounces at."

Zayne left completely dumbfounded by the commentary. "Things you don't want to hear your surgeon say", indeed.

[purpleturtle9000]

*slides in through the mail slot that you have definitely always had*

Greetings friend. I do not know much about the bayverse boys (haven’t watched the movies sinceI was a smol) but having said that, I request you assign them favorite movies, to watch, together and on their own (if different)

Beaming vibes of something nice will happen to you today <3

Real talk I wish I had a mail slot those thinks look cool as hell. But yes greetings and good vibes friend!!

Donnie is a fan of horror movies, but gets bored with most creature features because there's no logical reason for the [insert animal here] to relentlessly hunt random humans. But if a movie has lore of some kind, he loves that! He's seen a few seasons of Supernatural is what I'm saying. He loves lore-heavy movies in general, especially if there's tie-in books, but he also likes murder and mayhem. The only creature movies he does like are the Alien series. He admires the xenomorphs immensely for their pure, uncompromised killing power. (Leo really wonders about that part.)

Mikey's is Ponyo! It's a movie about transitioning between worlds, leaving behind the magical for the human, and finding unconditional love and acceptance there. Since Mikey loves video games, I hc that he favours animation over 'real life' media. That combined with his attraction to the human world, and desire to engage with it, means this is the perfect fit for him! Also the movie is downright gorgeous I mean honestly. A close second is Lilo and Stitch cause it has similar themes, and also aliens! Who doesn't love aliens?

Okay so for Raph there's an obvious answer, cause he canonically admires Vin Diesel. Except, and hear me out here - Ice Age. First of all it's a found-family movie and you can't tell me Raph isn't a fan of found family, it's literally what the turtles are. It's also about three random weirdos bonding, and one of said weirdoes changing from secretly-a-bad-guy to nearly-died-protecting-family. But also can I make it canon that the Vin Diesel appreciation is not because of any of the action movies? It's because of The Iron Giant. He cried over that movie I know it in my heart listen to me Nickelodeon-

Leo's is, ironically, a Vin Diesel movie. The Fast and The Furious, to be exact! He'd be the family car guy if it weren't for the fact that Donnie won't let anyone touch the turtle tank. As it is, he finds shiny cars very cool, even if there are parts in the later movies that he thinks are. Kinda stupid. It's part of the appeal, that boy's too uptight, he needs to relax by liking kinda-dumb action movies that heavily emphasize family bonds. He's also a huge fan of I Love Lucy because Splinter would let Leo watch it with him while the others were busy with their own things. As a treat for me, he likes the Transformers movies and sometimes calls April 'Mikaela' and everyone looks at him like he's an idiot. He needs to be a lil stupid sometimes it's good for him.

Family movie nights often involve superheroes of some kind. Sky High, Avengers, Megamind, Men In Black. Leo has a list of inaccurate sci-fi movies that will make Donnie yell at the tv because the rest of them think it's funny how worked up he gets. Mikey has a list of 100 top movies that he insists on going through to learn about human culture. They all get really invested in Leverage at one point. Once Donnie made them sit through a documentary about turtles and they threw popcorn at him through the whole thing. They watch a lot of basketball and also the security cameras at Central Park Zoo! Raph's favourite are the red pandas. Leo would not say this even under pain of death, but he likes watching the turtles. Mikey thinks it's cool that they let peacocks walk around and Donnie likes the snow leopard.

[murmew]

also omggg the vertin as the one tending to the flower shop is giving wholesome fluff romance

tho i had a gritty cyberpunk 2077 au idea where vertin was saved as an engram and two scientists (parents of my oc) made an advanced android body for her (think of it as Punishing Gray Raven level of advanced) to be the vessel as a bday present for their daughter

which ironically they died during some guy's suicide attack on the Arasaka Tower and when Vertin escapes the building to go meet the unfortunate 8-year old child scientist and eventually take care of her

Sonetto was also an engram though Arasaka deployed her as a corpo android (the ideal one; obedient and unquestioning, though in later roleplay instances I had Vertin and Sonetto meet and boy Sonetto was like "you were taken away from me" and oc (being Vertin's biological age going "hhhhh sapphic angst i cant")

said oc is pretty much a ripperdoc/scientist in one package though is an isolated case and mostly the one who upgrades/maintains vertin (I like Vertin to be more of a netrunner type where she doesn't have to be head-on in combat at all times, just only to do the finishing blow; even thinking of her ability to increase dmg and debuffs against ppl suffering cyberpsychosis that she can "hack" them to self-destruct: yes she still retains the darn outfit).

Sonetto would obv have hacking skills and Militech-variant of the Sandevistan for assassination (vertin in one instance going "bruh did she outrun a fucking car at 5th gear speed")

tldr vertin is someone's surrogate parent (trying rather: said oc was the high intelligent pts but severely low social skill pts) and vernetto would be a "distant love waiting to be rekindled"

-🌵

This is a cool AU, there was actually a Cyberpunk 2077 AU fic on AO3 that I really, really liked (ofc the story is very different from yours haha), so check it out if you haven't! LINK (though it's in Chinese, so you'd have to make due with machine translation haha)

I also think netrunner suits Vertin, especially since she canonically is not very good at head-on combat (but if she has an incredibly advanced body, like PGR level... Im sure she can take care of anything that gets out of hand). Sonetto with a sandy is too badass haha, corpo super soldier really suits her character, though I will say, if it were me, I would also prefer to give her a nuanced innocence alongside her loyalty (since that is what I find most charming about her character)

I don't dabble in ocs (if anything they would be side characters), so this was an interesting read. You have quite the imagination!

PS. I read the previous ask as well, but I'm not sure how to answer, so I'll just say that the information entered my mind haha

[avaisnerdytoo]

"You're chasing a Demon In A Bottle"

Tony told Valkyrie*

WHAT IF S2 - EP4

I'm loving this 4th episode, I miss Tony so much 😭😭😭

He stayed to help sakaar, because he's a hero, my hero 🥹❤️

(I'm a biased Iron Man Fangirl btw)

And his resourcefulness is so lovely to see. It's odd to me that I low key feel he had a more positive impact on his Sakaar visit than Thor. Although to be fair he was in a rush because of Ragnarok.

In a way him being stuck in Sakaar is essentially the same as being stuck in a Cave.

He built a car in a cave!!! With a bunch of scraps!!!

(also another Comic thing too btw 🤭🥰)

-

The implications of Tony's tale being known across the Galaxy and not just by Thanos is awesome though.

I bet that's canon to the main MCU too.

Also, just saying... In the Comics Tony did sleep with Gamora that one time yk...

Although for the MCU I don't quite ship them.

Not to mention Tony is already with Pepper at this point but still.

Crazy to think in this Universe simply because Tony got stuck outside Earth for a while, the entirety of Infinity War and Endgame was avoided. Which could even move into like... Avoiding Wandavision and other stuff.

Although Age of Ultron maybe not quite... He did still argue he wanted a suit of armor around the World and Universe in Season 1..

-

Sucks we didn't get this episode on season 1, but I'm glad we got it at all!!!

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Iron Man 2: Part Five

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.8k

Warnings: canon violence and angst

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

The fame for Tony has only just begun. Ever since the Senate meeting, he's been scheduled to appear all over the world. He is loving the attention while you're wishing you can be back on the rooftop with Natasha. You, Pepper, Happy, and Natasha accompany Tony to every press conference and party he's scheduled to be at.

This time, you're needed in Italy for the Grand Prix. Italy is so much different than the last time you were here. Granted, it was centuries ago, but it's weird to walk the same streets you did with Ikaris.

You pull down your short dress in the limo before it arrives at the Grand Prix, which is a racing event that people from all over gather around to watch. You're at a racecar track and you're wearing a short black dress that's low cut in the front. Pepper is wearing a knee-length blue off-the-shoulder dress that compliments her figure.

"Would you stop? You look great," Tony whispers to you.

"That's not why I'm nervous, Tony," you whisper back.

You hate being in the spotlight or the center of attention, however, Tony is the center as soon as he steps foot out of the limo. Cameras flash when the door opens and you take a deep breath before exiting the limo. Happy is the last to leave with a red briefcase that contains Tony's suit if he needs it.

"Mr. Stark?" Natasha greets you four inside. She is wearing a bright red dress that has a deep V in the front and shows off her curves. Seeing her again reminds you of your night on top of the roof, and you smile slightly at the reminder. "How was your flight?"

"It was excellent. Boy, it's nice to see you," he smiles.

"We have one photographer from the ACM if you don't mind."

She doesn't wait for a response as the photographer behind her begins to take pictures. You straighten up and smile at the camera along with Tony and Pepper. After one picture, you sneak away so that they can focus on the couple instead. There are so many people here and you know four of them. Oh, how you wish you were back in 1940 with Bucky walking along the sidewalk by Central Park. He loved taking you on late-night dates when there wouldn't be a lot of people outside. You could do anything you wanted because there was no one around to tell you otherwise.

In your mind, you're back with him instead of here.

"Are you okay?"

You look to the right of you at Natasha who looks concerned.

"Yeah. I need a drink." You walk to the bartender and give him a tight smile. "Something fruity, please."

A few seconds later, you already have a drink in your hands. You down the entire drink in one sitting and make sure you have the bartender's attention when you ask for one more.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Tony says when he and Pepper join you.

"I don't know how you two do it. I don't think I'll ever get used to this lifestyle of cameras, interviews, and people wanting to talk to me," you chuckle.

"You've been with me for twenty years and you're still not used to it?"

"Apparently not."

"Anthony. Is that you?" Justin Hammer says a few seats down when he spots you.

"My least favorite person on Earth," Tony mutters to you and Pepper as Justin makes his way over to the group.

Justin is with Christine, the woman that Tony hooked up with last year, and turns to Tony with a knowing smile.

"Hey, pal. How are you doing? You're not the only rich guy here with a fancy car. This is Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair. You guys know each other?" he introduces his partner to this event.

"Yes, roughly," Tony nods.

"BTW, big story. The new CEO of Stark Industries," Justin motions to Pepper who just smiles.

"My editor will kill me if I don't grab a quote for our Powerful Women issue. Can I?"

"Sure," Pepper nods.

"She's actually doing a big spread on me for Vanity Fair. I thought I'd throw her a bone, you know?" Justin chuckles.

"Right. Well, she did quite a spread on Tony last year. It was very impressive. It was very well done."

"Thank you," Christine blushes.

"I'm gonna go wash," Pepper excuses herself.

You're about to go with her but Tony grips your hand and forces you to stay near him. You know how much he doesn't like these people so you opt to just stay with him and keep him from blowing his brains out.

"Listen, is it the first time you've seen each other since the Senate?" Christine asks and shoves a recorder near you three to get your response.

"Since he got his contract revoked...?" Tony asks.

"Actually, it's on hold."

"That's not what I heard. What's the difference between 'hold' and 'canceled'?" you ask.

"Yes, what is it?" the reporter repeats.

"No. The truth is," he clears his throat nervously when he sees the recorder. He tries pushing it away, but Christine won't budge. "Why don't we put that away? The truth is, I'm actually hoping to present something at your Expo."

"Well, if you invent something that works, I'll make sure you get a slot."

"Mr. Stark?" Natasha interrupts.

"Yes?"

"Your corner table is ready."

"Thank you, Natalie." You start to leave when you notice something on Tony's neck. "Excuse us for one second."

You pull Tony into the nearest restroom despite his obvious complaints. 

"What is going on?"

"This is what's going on, Tony." You yank his collar down to show him the digital crossword puzzle that's creeping towards his neck. "We're running out of time, and you're here doing interviews."

"Yeah, well, I don't see you doing anything," he mutters and takes out the device to measure his blood toxicity levels.

It's at fifty-three percent.

"Fine, kill yourself. See if I care," you hiss and stalk out of the bathroom.

You don't mean to be that harsh but he's not taking any of this seriously. Your blood is pumping angrily through your veins, and you scan the room to see where your presence is least welcomed. Pepper is sitting alone at Tony's table, Christine and Justin are at a separate table talking, and Natasha is off on her own. You walk to Natasha who looks up from her phone when she senses you.

"Are you okay?"

"He's dying, Nat," you whisper. "He doesn't even care about his life. He's one of my best friends. What am I supposed to do?"

"We're working on it," she says lowly.

You can only assume she's talking about her and Nick.

"I wish I was back on that rooftop with you," you whisper.

"Me too," she smiles.

"Natalie. Natalie!" Pepper urges.

Both you and Natasha head over to the new CEO when you hear her command. You're not sure why she is freaking out until you see the TV. Why the hell is Tony on the screen, and why the hell is wearing a racing outfit?

"Oh, I'm going to kill him," you mutter.

When you told him to kill himself, you didn't actually mean it.

"What do you know about this?" Pepper asks Natasha.

"This is the first that I have known of it."

"This cannot happen."

"Absolutely. I understand. How can I help you?"

"Where's Happy?" you ask.

"He's waiting outside."

"Okay, get him. I need Happy," Pepper orders.

"Right away," Natasha nods and leaves.

"Why is he doing this?" Pepper asks you.

You could tell her but then again, she needs to hear this from Tony. You just shrug and keep your eyes on the TVs that are broadcasting this. There is something creeping up your spine, and you don't have a good feeling about what might come.

"Um, Pepper, get the suit as fast as you can. Get it to the tracks. Something is coming, but I don't know what. I'm going down there."

"Okay," she nods.

You push through the sea of people that have gathered around the bar to watch. All they're focused on is Tony and what he will do if or when he wins. Frustration spikes from within you and you resist the urge to use your aerokinesis in front of everybody. You're in the bleachers right now so you have a clear view of the racetrack. You can't see Tony's car anywhere but what you can see is a man wearing an orange pit crew jumpsuit.

He walks onto the track as the cars are racing by and rips open his chest to reveal what Tony has... an arc reactor. Who the hell is this guy and how did he get the technology to build one of those things? Most importantly, how is he going to use it? You can't believe whatever his intentions are is good. He has a look of murder on his face and you have a feeling you know who he's going after.

Whips shoot out of his hands from the machines he's built and powers them on. Electricity runs through them making them the most deadly kind of whip you've ever seen. Because what's on his chest is powering the electricity, the top part of his jumpsuit burns off so that all he's wearing is the bottom half and the contraption that powers the whips. A car races towards the man with the whips and he lashes one of them at the car, effectively cutting off the front part of the car.

All hell breaks loose as people watch the car flip twice in mid-air only to come crashing down to the ground. People all around you are pushing past you to get away, and you're trying to fight the current to get down there.

"Move! Out of my way!" you scream as you shove into people.

"Look! It's Stark!" someone yells.

You snap your head to the track and watch as Tony's car comes racing at this guy. Much like he did to the last one, he whips the front part of Tony's car off. His car goes flying through the air and crashes into the gate upside down.

"Tony!" you yell.

You blast powerful puffs of air out of your hands so that you shoot straight up into the sky. Everyone around you watches with either pure amazement or horror. You manipulate the air around you so that you fly straight down to the track. Whiplash (that's what you're calling him right now until you know his name) slowly walks towards Tony's car with only one thing in mind: he wants to kill him.

Over your dead body.

You land between Whiplash and Tony's car with a powerful grunt and when you look up at the man, your eyes are full of fire. Tony groans in pain and takes off his helmet to assess the damage. There are at least three cars rushing towards the crash site. It's too late for them to turn back now. However, one of them tries to and ends up crashing into the other two. They blow up in a big ball of fire, and the debris from the crash flies towards you, Whiplash, and Tony.

Without thinking, you use your aerokinesis to push back whatever is flying your way--tires, bumpers, shrapnel, and even a steering wheel. You're not going to let any of them hit you or Tony. Whiplash grins and fires up his whips by swinging them a few times. He lashes the right one at you and instead of dodging the clear death sentence, you grab the end of it. He's clearly shocked you did this, so he fires the other one at you only for you to do the same thing.

It hurts like a bitch, but this isn't the first time you've been electrocuted. While it may not be one of the four elements you control, you've built up a pain tolerance when you've experimented with high winds and heavy rain. Whiplash tries to get them back but you only grip them tighter. The best way to deal with this situation is to counteract the electricity with ice. Your hands drop to below-freezing temperatures, and icicles begin to form on your hands. They transfer to the whips and quickly crawl down the length of them until they get to the man himself. You're using an immense amount of power so your eyes turn bright blue since the power you're using is water.

You've got him right where you want him and it's time to use your aerokinesis. The power stems from your core and projects an outward blast. The wave hits Whiplash and he goes flying through the air and into a wrecked car.

"Tony!" you gasp and run to the man who just got himself free. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm--watch out!" he yells and tackles you to the ground right before one of the whips slams down to the ground next to you.

There is no time to fight back but you can move out of the way. Whiplash leads into another attack and you use your aerokinesis to blast you and Tony away just as the whip comes down in between your legs. Whatever this man's problem is won't go away with just one swift blast to the stomach. You need to get the arc reactor off of him, but in order to do that, you need to defeat him or distract him long enough to get it.

Whiplash takes his sweet time walking over to you and Tony, and that's when Pepper and Happy race onto the scene with Tony's suit. Happy rams the car into Whiplash, trapping him between it and the metal gate. The force is enough to knock Whiplash out at least for the time being.

"Are you okay?" you pant and help Tony off the ground.

"Yeah!" Happy yells, even though your question wasn't really directed towards him.

"Are you out of your mind?" Pepper shrieks from the backseat. "Get in the car right now!"

"I was attacked. We need better security," Tony scoffs.

"Get in the car," Happy urges.

"You're CEO. Better security measures. God, it's embarrassing," Tony scoffs and opens the back door. "First vacation in two years."

"Just get in the damn car," you hiss.

Whiplash bounces back a lot faster than you thought and he lifts his head up right when Tony opens the door. He uses the one whip that's available to him right now and slices the door in half. Pepper and Happy scream in terror but that doesn't stop Happy from reversing and ramming back into Whiplash. He does this several times, preventing Tony from getting into the car. He tries to get the case but when Happy rams Whiplash, the door that's still connected to the car slams shut.

"Give me the case!" Tony yells.

"I'm trying!" she cries.

You feel so bad for her but now is not the time to be thinking of other things. Where is Black Widow when you need her? Whiplash tries to fight his way out of the car, and uses his whips to slice the car in half. Poor Pepper is screaming her head off in fear and Happy is trying his best not to deploy the airbag.

"Give me the case! Please! Come on!" Tony yells. 

Pepper throws the case through the broken holes of the car, and it lands at his feet. He steps on the case, and that's when it begins to form to fit his body. Everyone who is still left watching from above in amazement as the suit is put on. As Tony is getting ready, you place your hands on the base of the car and push. Along with your super strength and aerokinesis, you're able to push the car away to a safe distance so that Happy and Pepper won't get hurt.

You and Tony turn to Whiplash for the final battle, Tony blasts him with the repulsors on his palms, and you muster up enough water in your hands to start throwing balls of water at him. Because he's holding an electric current, he dodges your attacks but not Tony's. You can see the anger on Whiplash's face, and he yells out in anger. He throws both whips at you and Tony--one for each. 

The whip that is directed at Tony wraps around his neck, and yours is wrapped around your hands. Tony is sick and tired of this ongoing fight he has no business being in so he decides to do something about it. He wraps his arm around the whip and starts to tangle himself in it to get closer to Whiplash. As soon as he's close enough, he punches him twice in the jaw and grabs his chest. He throws him over his shoulder and onto the ground, bringing you with him.

Tony walks over and yanks the arc reactor out of his chest and the machine powers down. You shake off the whip from around your wrists and get up. The crowd is cheering and chanting both your and Tony's names. You get up on weak knees and head over to Tony just as policemen head over to Whiplash. They yank him to his feet and begin to drag him away.

"You... You lose. You lose Stark," he says in a Russian accent with a bloody grin.

"How the hell did he get this?" you ask Tony about the mini arc reactor in his hands.

"I have no idea," Tony mumbles.

He crushes the arc reactor in his hands, and you turn to Pepper and Happy who are just glad this is all over. This is not what you had in mind when you agreed to come here. 

x

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